izan
Basque
Etymology
A plausible reconstruction for the participle of the intransitive forms is Proto-Basque *eizani,[1] while *edun can be reconstructed for the transitive ones.[2] The verb forms in each paradigm have different etymologies:
- NOR: from the participle prefix *e- + the stem -iza- (of unknown origin) + the past participle suffix -n. It has numerous suppletive stem forms. The present-tense forms have three stems: -a (third-person singular only), -aiz (with first and second-person singular prefixes), and -ara (in first and second person plural forms}.
- NOR-NORI: the stem -(t)zai- occurs in the indicative forms. The potential and imperative forms have the suppletive stem -ki-. Forms with plural nor agreement throughout the paradigm have the suffix -zki- immediately attached the stem and preceding the nori agreement suffixes.
- NOR-NORK: the stem -(d)u- forms the basis of the indicative forms. This stem also appears in the dialectal participle eduki. A verbal noun edutzea is attested from the fifteenth century, derived from either eduki or *edun. The potential and imperative forms are built on the stem -za- which becomes -tza- after a prefix ending in n.
- NOR-NORI: the stem is -i- in the indicative, and -ieza- in the potential and imperative. As in the nor-nori izan paradigm, forms with plural nor (absolutive) agreement are suffixed with -zki-. This marker is attached directly to the stem and precedes other agreement suffixes.
Pronunciation
Verb
izan da/du/dio/zaio (imperfect participle izaten, future participle izango or izanen, short form izan, verbal noun izate)
- (auxiliary, intransitive) to be
- (copulative) to be (essentially or identified as)
- Hau nire emaztea da. ― This is my wife.
- to exist; to occur
- Jaia bihar izango da. ― The party will be tomorrow.
- Basaurin bi metro geltoki daude. ― There are two metro stations in Basauri.
- (Navarro-Lapurdian, Souletin) to be (to occupy a place)
- Baionan naiz. ― I am in Baiona.
- (copulative, Navarro-Lapurdian, Souletin) to be (in a transient fashion)
- Mahaia zikina da. ― The table is dirty.
- (copulative) to be (essentially or identified as)
- (auxiliary, intransitive) Used to conjugate intransitive (nor) verbs.
- Zer gertatu da? ― What happened?
- (auxiliary, intransitive) Used to conjugate intransitive verbs with dative arguments (nor nori verbs).
- Txapela erori zaio. ― His hat fell off. (literally, “The hat fell to him.”)
- Etorri zitzaigun. ― He came to us.
- (transitive) to have, to possess
- (auxiliary, transitive) Used to conjugate transitive (nor nork) verbs.
- Liburua irakurri dut. ― I've read the book.
- (auxiliary, transitive) Used to conjugate transitive verbs with dative arguments (nor nori nork verbs).
- Liburua eman nizun. ― I gave you the book.
Usage notes
- Southern Basque (like Spanish) has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to be”: izan and egon. The former is used to express a quality of something (the first two examples), while the latter (the third and fourth examples) is used to express a location or a temporary state. Northern Basque does not have this distinction, so "to be" can be translated as izan in almost all contexts.
- Mahaia handia da. ― The table is big.
- Iñaki Donostiakoa da. ― Iñaki is from San Sebastián.
- Mahaia zikina dago. ― The table is dirty.
- Iñaki Donostian dago. ― Iñaki is in San Sebastián.
- Light verb constructions with egin (“to do”) usually take nor nork auxiliaries, even when translated by intransitive verbs.
- Elurra egin du. ― It's snowed.
- Lo egiten dute. ― They're sleeping.
- The dative argument (nori) frequently corresponds to an indirect object in English, but often indicates the possessor of the direct object (nor) of the verb, usually expressed as a possessive in English.
- Verbs of the nor nori nork class can only take third person direct objects (nor/absolutive arguments).
- The archaic conditional indicative, potential, subjunctive and imperative forms in the nor paradigm below actually belong to a different verb, *edin. This verb doesn't have any non-finite forms (its citation form itself is a reconstruction), so its forms are listed in most general use dictionaries together with the izan auxiliaries.
- Basque grammarians usually refer to the nor nork and nor nori nork auxiliaries by the northern citation form ukan or by the reconstructed participle form *edun; as a different verb from the intransitive forms of izan. Additionally, the archaic conditional indicative, potential, subjunctive and imperative forms in the nor-nork paradigm below actually belong to a different verb, *ezan. This verb doesn't have any non-finite forms (its citation form itself is a reconstruction), so its forms are listed in most general use dictionaries together with the izan auxiliaries.
Conjugation
izan ― NOR paradigm
izan ― NOR-NORI paradigm
izan ― NOR-NORK paradigm
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
See also
Basque auxiliary verbs
| Dialect | to be | Intransitive auxiliary | Transitive auxiliary | to have |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern | izan | *edun1 | ukan2 | |
| Southern | (quality) izan | izan | eduki3 | |
| (state) egon | ||||
| 1. Hypothetical citation form lacking non-finite forms, the non-finite forms of izan, ukan and eduki are used instead. 2. Verb lacking finite forms, *edun is used instead. 3. *edun is also used synonymously. | ||||
References
- ^ “izan” in Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask, sussex.ac.uk
- ^ “edun” in Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask, sussex.ac.uk
Further reading
- “izan”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
- “izan”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005
Spanish
Pronunciation
Verb
izan
Categories:
- Basque terms inherited from Proto-Basque
- Basque terms derived from Proto-Basque
- Basque terms with IPA pronunciation
- Basque lemmas
- Basque verbs
- Basque da verbs
- Basque du verbs
- Basque dio verbs
- Basque zaio verbs
- Basque auxiliary verbs
- Basque intransitive verbs
- Basque copulative verbs
- Basque terms with usage examples
- Navarro-Lapurdian Basque
- Souletin Basque
- Basque transitive verbs
- Basque synthetic verbs
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms