Basque and English without crutches

2007/09/01 Etxeberria Otaegi, Elixabete - Elhuyar Hizkuntza Zerbitzuak Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Elhuyarren berriak

English is today an important language of communication in different areas of society. In Euskal Herria, after the Basque language, Spanish and French, we can say that we have a fourth language. This situation has led to the integration of English into educational curricula, as well as many individuals learning for themselves or in schools. There is no doubt that English has become an essential language in the world of work and in any field of life.

So far, many of the Euskaldunes who have studied or worked English have done so through Spanish or French. Often, when you want information about an English word or phrase, you have resorted to dictionaries in Spanish or French. A change of mentality and custom is necessary to become aware of the possibility of going from English to Basque (and vice versa) on the right path, but for this to happen, Euskera-English dictionaries are needed.

Through this dictionary, the Linguistic Services of the Elhuyar Foundation and the Elkar publishing house want to expand and improve the existing possibilities in this field. In recent years there have been numerous and profound advances in the bilingual vocabulary in Basque, of which we could not exclude the scope of Euskera-English dictionaries.

The objective of this dictionary is that the Basques do not need the Spanish scale to make the leap to English, but are a tool to start from the Basque language and the Basque language to English.

The aim of this dictionary is to collect the basic vocabulary of Basque and English, as well as the technical words most used in everyday language, in two sections: Euskera-English and English-Basque. Between both sections will be found 34,000 units of dictionary, 50,000 meanings and about 12,000 examples. In addition, a 25-page annex includes names of places and citizens of the world and other topics. All this collected in 840 pages.

The authors have focused their effort towards a useful vocabulary, of course, with notes, which responds to the needs of the user.