ama-hizkuntza
“ama-hizkuntza” — mother tongue in Basque. Noun, level A2, topic — talking about the language. Literally 'the mother's language': ama — 'mom' + hizkuntza. Named by the teacher: it's first because it's mom's. In a live sentence: “Gure ama-hizkuntza bestelakoa da: horregatik da zaila ahoskera” — Our mother tongue is different: that's why the pronunciation is hard. One of 52 words in the set “talking about the language” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | ama-hizkuntza |
| Translation | mother tongue |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'the mother's language': ama — 'mom' + hizkuntza. Named by the teacher: it's first because it's mom's
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Gure ama-hizkuntza bestelakoa da: horregatik da zaila ahoskeraOur mother tongue is different: that's why the pronunciation is hard
Nearby words: talking about the language
“I'm learning”, “I don't speak it”, “I understand a little”. Admitting that your command of the language is still poor almost always makes the other person more patient.
- euskaraBasque (language)The language's own name. Euskera is also in use, eskuara in the dialects: the language's name is alive. The country is Euskal Herria — 'the land of the Basque language'
- ikasilearnLearning it yourself is ikasi; teaching someone else is irakatsi — the split English makes with learn and teach. A student is ikasle, school is eskola
- ikastaroakcoursesLiterally 'learnings' goings': ikasi — 'to learn' + ibili — 'to go about'. A course is 'a learning walk', a path a season long
- lineako ikastaroaonline courseLiterally 'the line course': lineako — from linea — 'line', a loan, admitted. Lineako means 'through the net': from home, whenever
- entrenatzaileacoachA loan from the Spanish entrenador, openly admitted. The same person in the gym and on the conversation-practice course
- ikastaroan izena emanenroll in a courseLiterally 'on the course to give the name': izena eman — 'to give one's name'. To enroll is to hand the course your name
- hizkuntza-mailalanguage levelLiterally 'the language's step': hizkuntza — 'language' + maila — 'step, level'. The levels have names: A1, A2, B1… — like this course's
- apunteaklecture notesA loan from the Spanish apuntes — 'notes', openly admitted. Always plural here: apunteak kopiatu — 'to copy out the notes'
- klasea galdumiss a classLiterally 'to lose the class': galdu — 'to lose'. Missing a class is losing it, like keys: it was — and it's gone
- bakarkaon one's ownLiterally 'single-ly': bakar — 'alone' + -ka, manner. Bakarka ikasi — to study by oneself: without a teacher, but not without a book
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “talking about the language”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “mother tongue” in Basque?
Literally 'the mother's language': ama — 'mom' + hizkuntza. Named by the teacher: it's first because it's mom's
- How do you say “language level” in Basque?
Literally 'the language's step': hizkuntza — 'language' + maila — 'step, level'. The levels have names: A1, A2, B1… — like this course's
- How do you say “courses” in Basque?
Literally 'learnings' goings': ikasi — 'to learn' + ibili — 'to go about'. A course is 'a learning walk', a path a season long
- How do you say “on one's own” in Basque?
Literally 'single-ly': bakar — 'alone' + -ka, manner. Bakarka ikasi — to study by oneself: without a teacher, but not without a book
- How do you say “enroll in a course” in Basque?
Literally 'on the course to give the name': izena eman — 'to give one's name'. To enroll is to hand the course your name
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “mother tongue” in Basque?
«ama-hizkuntza». In a live sentence: “Gure ama-hizkuntza bestelakoa da: horregatik da zaila ahoskera” — Our mother tongue is different: that's why the pronunciation is hard. Noun, level A2, from the set “talking about the language”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'the mother's language': ama — 'mom' + hizkuntza. Named by the teacher: it's first because it's mom's. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.