According to Itchy Feet fan, Afrikaans learner and co-author of this comic, Dave MacLeod, in Afrikaans any negative statement ("not" = nie) must at the end of the sentence feature yet another nie...or Afrikaans speakers will think you're not done speaking yet. Not.
So... like French, but with the same word twice? Nie/nie like ne/pas?
ReplyDeleteCan one colloquially leave out the FIRST "nie"? Like in French you can't just leave "ne", but you're fine with just a "pas"? C'est pas trop tard etc.
No you cannot leave it out. "Dis nie 'n kat nie" (that's not a cat) makes no sense as "dis 'n cat nie".
Deletetype as "dis 'n cat nie" its "kat" not "cat".
DeleteI meant "typo" not "type" XD
DeleteWould be incorrect to leave it out by saying "dis nie 'n kat", but Afrikaans people would understand you fine. We'd just instantly realise you are not a native Afrikaans speaker
DeleteDas werde ich nie nicht verstehen nicht!
ReplyDeleteBonus points to anyone that can identify the flag.
ReplyDelete-- Co-author
In Brazil it's also common to add an extra "não" at the end of simple negative sentences, but just colloquially and to add stress to the negativeness: "Não é um pato, não!". It is not necessary for the sentence to be complete.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle from the Northeast even used to say, "Né, não, né?". Literally, "Isn't it, no, isn't it?", something like, "Amirite?".
We won't think you're not done speaking, we'll just think you don't know how to speak Afrikaans ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love the way your speech bubbles show the translation :-)
ReplyDelete