Understanding a Makefile with $(basename $(notdir $@))
If you break it down:
$(notdir $@) takes away the path from the file name leaving just the file name (so /x/y/foo.a becomes foo.a)$(basename ...) takes away the extension (so foo.a becomes foo)
There's a decent reference here: http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/File-Name-Functions.html