{"id":5456,"date":"2017-05-31T19:34:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T19:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=5456"},"modified":"2017-06-14T16:27:23","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T16:27:23","slug":"how-to-say-no-with-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2017\/05\/31\/how-to-say-no-with-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Say No With Authority"},"content":{"rendered":"

As with any language, Icelandic has its fill of filler words. In English, for example, we have words like none, some, a few, each other, both, neither<\/em>, and the list goes on. And we have creative ways \u2013 in my opinion \u2013 of saying no to each other. No<\/em>, I think we all can agree, is essential. I\u2019d like to be able to say no to chocolate mousse because, frankly, I hate it, or I\u2019d like to express that I gave a lecture and nobody asked me any questions. These are crucial words, to say the least, and today I\u2019d like to look at the usage in Icelandic in greater detail.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re probably already familiar with the terms enginn, ekki neinn, <\/em>and ekki nokkur<\/em>, but you might not be sure exactly when to use them. Sure, anyone can say, when asked what they did on the weekend, ekki neitt,<\/em> but the nuance that this word conceals within itself can be difficult to see.<\/p>\n

Ekki neinn<\/em> and ekki nokkur <\/em>both mean more or less \u2018nothing at all\u2019 or \u2018no one at all\u2019 depending on the context and how the verb is declined. These two phrases are generally used to imply that one is speaking of a group of two or more. Ekki nokkur <\/em>is stronger than ekki neinn<\/em>, though ekki neinn<\/em> is the more commonly used of the two, and \u2018neinn\u2019 declines just like the word \u2018einn,\u2019 while \u2018nokkur\u2019 declines like a strong adjective.<\/p>\n

Neither ekki neinn <\/em>nor ekki nokkur<\/em> are generally the subject of the sentence. One might say \u201cEnginn segir m\u00e9r neitt\u201d <\/em>\u2013 \u00a0nobody said anything to me, but one would not say\u00a0“Ekki neinn segir m\u00e9r neitt.<\/em>\u00a0It is both much cleaner and much more natural to say enginn<\/em>, but it is nevertheless possible to say something like\u00a0\u201c\u00c9g tala\u00f0i ekki vi\u00f0 neinn \u00ed h\u00fasinu,” – <\/em>I didn’t speak to anyone in the house, which shifts the subject-object dynamic.<\/p>\n

You can also\u00a0shake things up with other negations \u2013 the possibilities are expansive. E.g., aldrei <\/em>(never), varla <\/em>(hardly), hvergi <\/em>(nowhere\/anywhere), hvorki\u2026n\u00e9 <\/em>(neither\u2026nor) can be used in conjunction with neinn <\/em>and nokkur<\/em> to convey a similar idea in a multitude of contexts. But<\/u><\/strong> if you\u2019re going to use those words, remember to lop off \u2018ekki\u2019 because that creates a contradiction.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Heyrir <\/em>\u00fe\u00fa ekki neitt<\/u><\/strong>? <\/em>|\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Did you hear anything\/nothing? [accu]<\/p>\n

Hann les aldrei neinar <\/u><\/strong>b\u00e6kur. <\/em>|\u00a0\u00a0 He never reads any books. [accu]<\/p>\n

\u00deeir s\u00e1u hvergi neina<\/u><\/strong> krakka. <\/em>|\u00a0\u00a0 They didn\u2019t see the kids anywhere. [accu]<\/p>\n

Hann heyrir ekki nokkurt<\/u><\/strong> hlj\u00f3\u00f0.<\/em>|\u00a0 He didn\u2019t hear a sound. [accu]<\/p>\n

H\u00fan talar aldrei<\/u><\/strong> vi\u00f0 nokkurn<\/u><\/strong> mann. <\/em>| \u00a0She never talks to anyone\/any person. [accu]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And remember to decline according to the case that the verb assigns. The above are all accusative by pure coincidence. If you don\u2019t your mom or your dad, you might say \u00e9g sakna hvorki m\u00f6mmu minnar n\u00e9 pabba m\u00edns\u00a0<\/em>(although my folks wouldn\u2019t ever want to hear that phrase cross my lips, of course).<\/p>\n

If somebody asks you heyrir <\/em>\u00fe\u00fa nokku\u00f0? <\/em>or \u00c6tlar \u00fe\u00fa a\u00f0 gera nokku\u00f0 meira \u00ed dag?,<\/em> they\u00b4re generally expecting a negative answer. Nei, \u00e9g heyri ekkert<\/em> (No, I heard nothing) or J<\/em>\u00fa<\/em>, \u00e9g heyri eitthvert \u00ferusk<\/em> (On the contrary, I heard a rustling) are the appropriate answers here. Since the expectation is that you\u2019ll answer in the negative, j<\/em>\u00fa <\/em>will always be used to contradict the question, as opposed to j<\/em>\u00e1.<\/em> It\u2019s j<\/em>\u00fa<\/em>\u2019s lot in life to be contrary. \u00a0(Viltu ekki fara? J\u00fa, \u00e9g vil fara.) J\u00fa solves the “does that mean yes-yes or yes-no” problem (don’t you want to go? Yes. Yes-yes or yes-no? Yes-no, I think, I mean, maybe.)<\/p>\n

One last point on this one: nokku<\/em>\u00f0 and nokkurt<\/em>, as well as eitthva\u00f0 <\/em>and eitthvert<\/em> are used differently. In the above example, Hann heyrir ekki nokkurt<\/u><\/strong> hlj\u00f3\u00f0<\/em>, I choose to use nokkurt<\/em> instead of nokku\u00f0. <\/em>Both are applicable to the neutral singlar plural, both nominative and accusative. Nokku\u00f0<\/em> is used as a stand-alone word (Hann heyrir ekki nokku\u00f0)<\/em>, where as nokkurt<\/em> is used before a noun. Always. [Eitthva\u00f0, which is not a negation<\/u>, is used as a standalone word in the same way, and eitthvert, a form of einhver<\/em>,\u00a0\u00a0is always used next to a noun. \u00a0\u2013 but that\u2019s another topic].<\/p>\n

Finally, enginn<\/em> simply means none<\/em> or nobody. <\/em>It\u2019s usage is straightforward: Enginn af str<\/em>\u00e1kunum er farinn<\/em>, vi\u00f0 hittum engan \u00e1 lei\u00f0inni, \u00e9g vil gera ekkert. <\/em>(Trans: None of the boys are coming; we met nobody on the way here; I want to do nothing \u2013 which is more like \u201cI don\u2019t want to do anything\u201d, rather than willful declaration of apathy and resignation).<\/p>\n

You can also say “none of the Xs” as\u00a0enginn af + dative\u00a0<\/em>with def. article or as\u00a0enginn\u00a0<\/em> + genitive with article.\u00a0Enginn af str\u00e1kunum\u00a0<\/em>vs.\u00a0enginn str\u00e1kanna.\u00a0<\/em>As you please. MAKE SURE TO HAVE GENDER AGREEMENT HERE. So\u00a0engin kvenanna<\/em> and\u00a0enginn mannanna, <\/em>e.g.<\/p>\n

And just for some additional practice listening and understanding, here’s an insider’s look at a book\/poetry reading; who do you understand the best? What do you understand\/what don’t you understand?\u00a0In the poet’s house…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As with any language, Icelandic has its fill of filler words. In English, for example, we have words like none, some, a few, each other, both, neither, and the list goes on. And we have creative ways \u2013 in my opinion \u2013 of saying no to each other. No, I think we all can agree…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[91175],"tags":[91430,91429,91426,91427,91428,91431],"class_list":["post-5456","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-icelandic-grammar","tag-ekkert","tag-ekki-neinn","tag-enginn","tag-negation-in-icelandic","tag-neitun","tag-nokkur"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5456"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5476,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5456\/revisions\/5476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}