Animaliak — from the farmstead to the forest

From the landscape to its inhabitants: animals — those at home, on the farmstead, and in the forest. A rewarding vocabulary, full of compound words that tell stories (basurdea = “forest pig”).

At home

English	Basque
The dog	txakurra
The cat	katua
The bird	txoria
The fish	arraina

Gure txakurrak hiru urte ditu eta katuak hamaika. Nagusia, katua — noski. — Our dog is three years old and the cat is eleven. The boss is the cat — of course.

On the farmstead (baserria)

English	Basque
The cow	behia
The sheep / the lamb	ardia / arkumea
The horse	zaldia
The pig	txerria
The hen / the rooster	oiloa / oilarra
The donkey	astoa

Baserrian behiak, ardiak eta oiloak dituzte. Goizero esnea eta arrautzak hartzen dituzte. — On the farmstead, they have cows, sheep, and hens. Every morning they get milk and eggs.

In the forest and the sky

English	Basque
The wild boar	basurdea
The fox	azeria
The wolf	otsoa
The bear	hartza
The deer	oreina
The vulture	putrea
The squirrel	urtxintxa

Mendian basurde bat ikusi genuen — eta basurdea guri begira. Denok geldi-geldi! — On the mountain, we saw a wild boar — and the wild boar was looking at us. Everybody freeze!

Pirinioetan hartzak daude berriro, gutxi baina badaude. — There are bears in the Pyrenees again: few, but they’re there.

Talking about your animal

Animaliarik baduzu? — Do you have any pets?

Bai, txakur bat daukat. Mendira eramaten dut egunero. — Yes, I have a dog. I take it to the mountain daily.

Katuak ez du ezer egiten… eta hala ere, dena da berea. — The cat does nothing… and yet, everything is his. 😄

Note: animals populate the entire Basque language: Otsoa aipatu eta otsoa atari (speak of the wolf, and the wolf is at the door = speak of the devil), azeria baino azkarragoa (smarter than a fox)… And many surnames: Otxoa (wolf), Artzak (bears), Azeri… Animals have been here for centuries, in the names too.