Jun 23, 2008
Hey there! I’m Jack and you’re listening listening to Lithuanian Out Loud.
Just some notes before today’s episode. Raminta and I just finished some marathon recording sessions in the last three weeks and we recorded 62 episodes – 22 of them are exam episodes.
About two weeks ago at a party some Lithuanian friends of ours
did some interviews with Raminta. In the interviews Raminta
asked them about four questions.
- who is happier in life, men or women?
- it’s difficult for couples to get along well, what do you think
is important for couples to get on well?
- what three things do you think are most important in a mate?
- what are white crows?
In Lithuanian, white crows are people who are different. Of
course, crows are black, so a white crow would stand out in a
crowd.
Raminta and I plan to create episodes out of these interviews and break them down for you. Here’s a sample of one recording, but without a translation. We’ll do a translation for you in the future. While you’re listening to the recording keep in mind it’s at a party. Raminta is outside on the back porch but you can still hear music in the background. Also, there’s a pond nearby and the frogs are loud, but the audio is good.
(Lithuanian conversation about white crows)
As of today we have 28 reviews on our iTunes page. Again, thanks to everyone who’s given us one. Of course, our goal is still 50 positive reviews – can anyone help us out with a few more? Please?
And, just so you know, we have over 100,000 downloads of our episodes. As a matter of fact, we have over 110,000. How awesome is that? Thanks so much for listening!
Hi, this is Bayram from Turkey and you’re listening to Lithuanian Out Loud with Raminta and Jack! Enjoy!
Thanks Bayram for the plug! That was awesome of you to do that for us. Thanks so much for taking the time to give us a plug!
Now, on with the show! Enjoy!
Hi there, I’m Jack and I’m Raminta and welcome back to Lithuanian Out Loud where we offer the world the Lithuanian language. Today we’re in the month of June which in Lithuanian is birželis.
According to the article, “Lithuanian Mythology” written by Gintaras Beresnevičius of the Lithuanian Institute of Culture and Arts, Sovijus kills a magnificent wild boar.
Sovijus gets very angry when his nine sons eat the nine spleens of the boar. Sovijus goes to the afterworld in a fit of anger and enters through the ninth gate. In the afterworld one of his sons causes him to sleep and he buries Sovijus in the ground. Sovijus spends a terrible night trying to sleep complaining he was being eaten by slugs and reptiles all night. On the second night Sovijus is put in a tree but all night long he’s bitten and stung by insects. On the third night Sovijus is thrown into a fire and the next morning he reports he slept as sweetly as a baby in a cradle. Starting with that night, Sovijus becomes the master of the dead and he’s responsible for taking the dead into the afterworld.
Following the example of Sovijus and his first two nights of attempted sleep, it was obvious that the dead were happier being cremated. This explains the Baltic tradition of cremation prior to the arrival of Christianity. Something else you can see about Baltic tradition in this story is the belief that numbers divisible by three are considered to have magical properties.
pradėkime, let’s get started
We need to get caught up on some verbs. The good news is that most Lithuanian verbs are regular. Very few are irregular.
In episodes 0050 and 0051 we introduced the accusative case or galininkas, if you need a review, just go back and listen again. You have to use the accusative case when an object is receiving the direct action of a verb such as, “I eat the food“ or “he drives the car.“
The food, which is the object here, is being eaten, the food is the noun receiving the direct action of the verb – to eat. The food is being eaten.
He drives the car. The car, which is the object here, is being driven. The car is the noun that‘s receiving the direct action of the verb, to drive. The car is being driven.
To get technical, these are examples of transitive verbs. When using a transitive verb the object receives the action of the subject. Valdas eats the food. The object, food, receives the action of the verb – to eat. So, the object - the food, is declined using the accusative case.
Intransitive verbs don‘t require the accusative case. Here are some examples where the accusative isn‘t necessary...
I am
Lithuanian
aš esu lietuvis
I like the
house
man patinka namas
my name is
Sonata
mano vardas yra Sonata
The accusative is very common in Lithuanian and you‘ll see it a lot in this series.
Today we‘ll work on the verb turėti – to have. Such as, “I have a car.” The car is the object which is receiving the action of the verb – to have. The verb turėti uses the accusative case. To create a sentence all you have to do is conjugate the verb turėti and then decline the noun using galininkas. Some say Lithuanian is challenging – could be! :)
First, let’s conjugate the verb turėti, prašom pakartoti, please repeat…
I have
aš turiu
you have
(tu)
tu turi
he
has
jis turi
she
has
ji turi
we
have
mes turime
you have
(jūs)
jūs turite
you all
have
jūs turite
they have (male or male/female group)
jie turi
they have (females
only)
jos turi
vocabulary – žodynas
an
idea
idėja
a
passport
pasas
a
question
klausimas
a
problem
problema
a
wife
žmona
a
husband
vyras
a female
friend
draugė
a male
friend
draugas
to
work
dirbti
to
dance
šokti
Alright, now let‘s use turėti in some sentences...
I have a
wife
aš turiu žmoną
I have a
question
aš turiu klausimą
do you have a car?
(tu)
ar tu turi automobilį?
do you have a passport?
(tu)
ar tu turi pasą?
he has a
problem
jis turi problemą
he has a female
friend
jis turi draugę
she has a male
friend
ji turi draugą
she has a
husband
ji turi vyrą
we have an
idea!
mes turime idėją!
we have a good
friend
mes turime bičiulį
do you have a
passport?
ar jūs turite pasą?
do you have a
wife?
ar turite žmoną?
do you all have a
car?
ar jūs turite automobilį?
do you all have a
question?
ar turite klausimą?
they have a
problem
jie turi problemą
they have a
house
jie turi namą
do they have a
question?
ar jos turi klausimą?
they have an
idea
jos turi idėją
The verb turėti can be combined with an infinitive verb.
For example, I have to go, she has to work, or, they have to
study. Just conjugate the verb turėti, then add the
infinitive verb.
prašom pakartoti, please repeat...
I have to
go
aš turiu eiti
you have to
study
turite studijuoti
she has to
work
ji turi dirbti
I have to
run
aš turiu bėgti
they have to
study
jie turi studijuoti
you have to
sleep
turi miegoti
I have to
eat
aš turiu valgyti
Now, just to give you a headache, let‘s make it a little more complicated...
do you have to go to
Klaipėda?
ar jūs turite važiuoti į Klaipėdą?
he has to read the
book
jis turi skaityti knygą
I have to
wait
aš turiu palaukti
we have to go (to)
downtown
mes turime važiuoti į miesto centrą
do they have to wait in the
airport?
ar jos turi palaukti oro uoste?
There are a lot of new verbs on this episode. In the future we plan to do an entire episode for each new verb.
Šaunu! Great! You made it to the end of another episode! Šaunu!
Alright! That’s it for today! Thanks for the
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Thanks for tuning in, tell your friends about us, we’ll see you on
the next episode of Lithuanian Out Loud.
I’m Jack and I’ve never met a Lithuanian I didn’t like. Viso
gero! Sudie!
LITHUANIAN MYTHOLOGY by GINTARAS BERESNEVIČIUS
http://www.crvp.org/book/Series04/IVA-17/chapter_iv.htm
http://www.Lithuanian.Libsyn.com
Skype voicemail: Lithuanianoutloud
email Raminta and Jack at: lithuanianoutloud@earthlink.net
http://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/
http://www.ccmixter.org/