As in, in English 'I don't want to never do that', meaning that one wants to do it at at least some point. Which could just as well be phrased as 'I want to do that at some point', but 'I don't want nothing' , is not the same as 'I don't want anything'. Can you even say something like 'Mä en halua ei mitään'?.
Also 'I want nothing' is 'mä halua en mitään' right?
Are double denials possible in Finnish?
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- jahasjahas
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Re: Are double denials possible in Finnish?
How about "En halua olla tekemättä tuota."? (Though that's more like "I don't want to not do that." or "I don't want to miss doing that.", no strict "never" there.)PäähäniSattuu wrote:As in, in English 'I don't want to never do that'
I can only see that working in a scenario like'Mä en halua ei mitään'?
- Mitä toit mulle lahjaksi?
- En mitään.
- Mä en halua "ei mitään"! Mä haluan ponin!
So not really what you were thinking of.
"Mä en halua mitään" would be the expected word order. "Mä halua en mitään" could be used in a poem or a song.Also 'I want nothing' is 'mä halua en mitään' right?
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Re: Are double denials possible in Finnish?
Puhekieli maybe...
Mä olen ilman mitään?
(I am without anything)
Mä olen ilman mitään?
(I am without anything)
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
Something wicked this way comes."
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Re: Are double denials possible in Finnish?
Ei kyllä ei millään tuu mitään mieleen... ei sitten ei millään. <-- colloquial or something
I think the answer to you question is no, it's an idiomatically English (and even so American/colloquial) phenomenon to start with.
I think the answer to you question is no, it's an idiomatically English (and even so American/colloquial) phenomenon to start with.
Re: Are double denials possible in Finnish?
I've heard Finns in Finland say "I cain't get no satisfaction."
I guess that doesn't count on two counts. Not really Finnish and not the kind of double negative you wanted.
I guess that doesn't count on two counts. Not really Finnish and not the kind of double negative you wanted.
As he persisted, I was obliged to tootle him gently at first and then, seeing no improvement, to trumpet him vigorously with my horn.
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Re: Are double denials possible in Finnish?
Well, it can theoretically happen in any language where negation is just a random particle which be done to almost anything. I assumed that in Finnish since the negative particle is the finitie verb of the sentence of some sorts I wondered how double negatives, if at all, are possible in Finnish and apparently they aren't.Valinnan vapaus wrote:Ei kyllä ei millään tuu mitään mieleen... ei sitten ei millään. <-- colloquial or something
I think the answer to you question is no, it's an idiomatically English (and even so American/colloquial) phenomenon to start with.