# Basque translation needed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basque-translation-needed/185289 "2003-06-30T03:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basque-translation-needed/185289/1 "2003-06-30T03:55:42Z")
While in Spain, I took a picture of some sort of political demonstration. The banner read “PRESO ETA IHESLARI POLITIKOAK” on top, and underneath that “E(tre)AN NAHI DITUGU.” The first word is a guess–the banner was wavy. Based on a little web research, I think the first line means “Political prisoners and ?” I’d like a little help finishing the translation. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basque-translation-needed/185289/2 "2003-06-30T06:06:23Z")
If it’s any help, _ETA_ is a terrorist/freedom fighter (depending on your viewpoint) organization: [http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/eta\_print.html](http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/eta_print.html) ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basque-translation-needed/185289/3 "2003-07-01T02:14:20Z")
IANAFBS (Fluent Basque Speaker) by any means, but I’ve picked up a few words here and there. Unfortunately, these are more of the “please - thankyou - train station - hotel - restaurant” variety, rather than abstract nouns and grammar. However, if no fluent Basque speakers are going to bite on this one (and with nearly 37,000 members on the SDMB you’d think we’d have at least _one_!), I’ll have a go at it. First, some background. From [this site](http://www.geocities.com/standingdeer1/fom2.htm): > [@](#): > > THERE ARE CLOSE TO 600 Basque political prisoners (BPP hereafter) scattered in jails in France and Spain, with the highest number of prisoners, approximately 540, in the Spanish State. The condition of prisons in France and Spain are harsh. To BPP is added that they are being moved and subject to violence. The present dispersion policy being applied to BPP is tantamount to isolating them from their relatives and friends. They are held in prisons outside Euskal Herria (Basque Country, in the Basque language) away from their homes, a treatment that violates current French and Spanish penitentiary legislation and European prison rules stating the right of prisoners to remain near their familiar environment. The first line of **Opus1** ’s banner, “PRESO ETA IHESLARI POLITIKOAK” is straightforward: **PRESO** = prisoner or detainee **ETA** = Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, “Euskadi and Liberty” (Euskadi is the Basque homeland) which, as **DarrenS** points out, is an organization of (a) cowardly terrorists or (b)brave heroic freedom fighters. [The Basque word “ETA” **also** means “and”, but in this case it’s clearly the group.] **IHESLARI** = refugee or fugutive **POLITIKOAK** = political (although Basque is unrelated to the Indo-European languages, there are some words that have made it across the divide). So, **“ETA DETAINEES ARE POLITICAL PRISONERS”** , i.e. the 600 or so ETA members locked up in France and Spain should be given a “political status”. The second line is more difficult, mainly because the first word is a guess. **NAHI** is the verb “to want” or “to wish”. **GU** is the pronoun “we”, and can take the form of a suffix, as in **DITUGU**. **NAHI DITUGU** is used, I believe, in the sense that when it follows the infinitive form of a verb x, it means “we want x to happen”. That’s why the first word is important – it’s the verb that they want done to the prisoners! Now, the verb “to liberate” is **atera**. So, the banners second line could be “WE WANT THEM RELEASED”, although my Basque is nowhere near strong enough to know what the third-person passive subjunctive form of **atera** would be. The other option that might make sense for the verb is “returned” or “repatriated”, since one of the major points of contention is that not only are they incarcerated, but it’s in places far from the Basque homeland **Euskadi**. Hope this helps. I find Basque grammar _most_ confusing. Plus, all this thinking has made me hungry for some **pinxtos** (the Basque equivalent to Spanish _tapas_). **Resources Used** : The [Morris Basque-English Dictionary](http://www1.euskadi.net/morris/indice_e.htm) A [political website](http://www.batasuna.org/ekimenak/ak/forum/edukiak/barakaldo.htm) run by Barakaldoko Batasunak (in Basque and Spanish).