"No" in as many different languages as possible

slhuang · Dec 22, 2014

Hi!

I have a character I want to repeat the word "No" in a variety of different languages -- context is that he's tempted to do something and is cutting himself off by saying, "no, I will not be that person" and basically repeating the word "no" a bunch of times. Speak a non-English language? Help me out!

The only specific language that's important for me to include is Tagalog, which I got as "Walang" from Google Translate, but I do not know if that makes sense in this context.

I'm particularly interested in non-Western languages and obscure dialects just because the places the character has been to learn all these languages are often non-Western off the beaten track, but am happy to get any input.

Thanks (and rep points) in advance!

cornflake · Dec 22, 2014

Nyet - Russian

Hold out either hand and firmly bring together the first two fingers and the thumb (like if you were making an 'omg you're just going on and on' motion, but using only the first two fingers, not all four, on top of the thumb), once. - ASL.

There are several good video dictionaries of the ASL if you want to look to see it, to perhaps describe it more concisely, heh.

Christabelle · Dec 22, 2014

Spanish - No
German - Nein
Hungarian - Nem

alleycat · Dec 22, 2014

You can go to one of the online translators and get it translated in to a number of languages.

For example, Bing: http://www.bing.com/translator/

chompers · Dec 22, 2014

Some of the languages differentiate how it's spoken based on how it's used. So that might make a difference in the responses you get.

For instance, in Mandarin, if you want to just say no, as if something tragic happening and you're screaming, "Nooooooo!!!!!!" it would be one word (不!!!!). But then if it's "No, [I am not]," it's two words (不是 -- bu shi)*

*Actually, seeing your name, I'm going to assume you know this already, so sorry if I've overexplained.

French: Non.
Japanese: Iie.

I know one more, but it doesn't have an official written language, so I don't know if it'll help.

slhuang · Dec 22, 2014

Thank you so much, guys!

Reps for all. :hooray:

Keep 'em coming!

alleycat said:
You can go to one of the online translators and get it translated in to a number of languages.

For example, Bing: http://www.bing.com/translator/

Thank you! Yes, I did that for the rough draft -- I have a paragraph in there already with nine different versions of "no."

But as chompers said, I'm afraid some of them are the wrong no, if that makes sense! So I thought I'd ask people here instead.

Gringa · Dec 22, 2014

and another used in Spanish a lot and means "never" .... nunca

Chase · Dec 22, 2014

cornflake said:
Hold out either hand and firmly bring together the first two fingers and the thumb (like if you were making an 'omg you're just going on and on' motion, but using only the first two fingers, not all four, on top of the thumb), once. - ASL.

Good description of ASL's emphatic "no." Here are some subtle variations:
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/n/no.htm

I once went with a sweet Norwegian girl: no (way) = ikke

One of the first terms I learned in Vietnam: no, negative = không

Amadan · Dec 22, 2014

Arabic: la
Korean: aniyo

jvc · Dec 22, 2014

You might need to point out to the reader that all of these words mean 'no'. Because otherwise the reader may just think it's gibberish.

Zelenka · Dec 22, 2014

My Norwegian friend just says 'Nei' (pronounced kind of like 'nigh') for 'no' as an exclamation. She's said to me before though that it varies from region to region.

Czech - Ne

Slovak - Nie

Scots Gaelic is a weird one and doesn't really have a word for 'no', so they tend to say 'Chan eil' (pronounced 'han yel') which is 'am not' or would answer with the verb that was in the original question in the negative. So you wouldn't say No if you were asked 'do you understand' you would say 'not understand'.

Portuguese - não

Same as if someone asks you to say something in another language, I've gone blank on any others. I think Dutch is nee but I'm not sure on the spelling.

Sunflowerrei · Dec 22, 2014

chompers said:
Japanese: Iie.

Mmm. Yeah. But "iie" is generally pretty polite and I don't know if it'll work in the context SL described. I think something like "dame" (which means something like"don't" basically in Japanese) could work better.

chompers · Dec 22, 2014

Sunflowerrei said:
Mmm. Yeah. But "iie" is generally pretty polite and I don't know if it'll work in the context SL described. I think something like "dame" (which means something like"don't" basically in Japanese) could work better.

Oh, yes, much better. Sorry, slhuang, blanked out earlier. I blame it on not having gone to bed yet.

Dennis E. Taylor · Dec 22, 2014

No. Non. Nix. Negative. Uh-uh. Nyet. Hellno. Negatory. Nak. Nyetsky. Screw that. Not gonna happen.

No.

StarryEyes · Dec 22, 2014

Swedish - nej

Icelandic - nei

My Swiss German friend says "nee". Don't know if it's common or if it's just her though.

Chris P · Dec 22, 2014

Hapana - Swahili

Nedda - Luganda

Tocotin · Dec 22, 2014

Polish: nie.

Japanese iie would work well for your purpose, because it usually begins a negative sentence. It's not much used separately, and when it is, it's not that polite.

Deb Kinnard · Dec 22, 2014

Italian: no
Spanish, a tad bit more color: en tus sueños (in your dreams). If you want "in my dreams" it'd be en mis sueños.

amergina · Dec 22, 2014

Hayır -- Turkish. (Note that the i has no dot.)

Siri Kirpal · Dec 22, 2014

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Not sure how the Punjabi is transliterated, but it sounds like NEY (or neigh). Usually it's said twice: ney, ney.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Sunflowerrei · Dec 22, 2014

Is this for Rio, SL?

Tepelus · Dec 22, 2014

Romanian - Nu.

Ken · Dec 22, 2014

American Legalize (or whatnot) - Nay

slhuang · Dec 22, 2014

You guys are AMAZING! Thank you! (And the funny replies are cracking me up.)

jvc said:
You might need to point out to the reader that all of these words mean 'no'. Because otherwise the reader may just think it's gibberish.

Yah, no worries, I'm definitely trying to make sure it's clear what's happening.

Sunflowerrei said:
Is this for Rio, SL?

Hee hee HOW DID YOU GUESS :heart:

L M Ashton · Dec 22, 2014

Ne - Sinhalese (but Sinhalese uses a different alphabet, so this is only mostly close - and the e is pronounced like the A in Apple. Sort of. The sounds don't entirely translate to English sounds.)

Tidak in Malay (but I suspect you already know that, slhuang, right?)

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