Basic Family

Basque has a very interesting feature in its family vocabulary: the word for “sister” depends on who is speaking.

Basic vocabulary

Euskera	English
aita	father
ama	mother
gurasoak	parents
seme	son
alaba	daughter
seme-alabak	sons and daughters

The specifics of “brother/sister”

• anaia — brother (said by both men and women)
• arreba — sister, said by a man
• ahizpa — sister, said by a woman

Therefore:

Egoitz says: “Nire arreba Maialen da.” (My sister is Maialen.)

Maialen says: “Nire ahizpa Naia da.” (My sister is Naia.)

Both Egoitz and Maialen say: “Nire anaia Hodei da.” (My brother is Hodei.)

This reflects a very old distinction in Basque. It has no direct equivalent in English and is learned through use. Don’t worry if you get it wrong at first — everyone will understand you.

Useful plurals

• anai-arrebak — brothers and sisters (generic form, without distinction)
• gurasoak — parents
• seme-alabak — sons and daughters