A Portuguese quote containing the word no is, Não há remédio para o amor, exceto amar ainda mais, meaning that there is no remedy for love but to love more.
An expression with the word no in Russian is, Нет. Без муки нет науки. Directly translated this means “without torture no science. ” The equivalent meaning in English is something like, “adversity is a good teacher. ”
You can say “no way” in German by saying, Auf keinen Fall. [11] X Research source Nicht is the equivalent of not in English. Kein is another word for no and can mean not any, no one, nobody, none, and not. [12] X Research source Niemals means never in German. [13] X Research source A saying with a negation in German is, Wenn der Reiter nichts taugt, ist das Pferd schuld. The literal translation of this saying is, “If the rider is no good, it’s the horse’s fault. ” This means that one should take responsibility for his/her actions and not blame others or the circumstances for one’s loses.
To say no more politely, add ji to the beginning or end of nahi. This is the same for yes, haa. Although Hindi is the official language of India, there are 22 major languages and 720 dialects spoken in India. [15] X Research source A quote that says no in Hindi is, जल में रहकर मगर से बैर ठीक नहीं which translates to you should not have enmity with the crocodile if you are living in the water and means that you should strive to have good relationships with the people you have to live or work with. [16] X Research source There are 3 stylistic varieties of Hindi: one used in high courts, journalism, literature, philosophy and religion; another Persianized version that is used in lower courts, films and some genres of literature; and a third Anglicized version for business administration, colleges, and science and technical journals. [17] X Research source
In Modern Armenian there are two written versions, Western Armenian, Arewmtahayerên, and Eastern Armenian, Arewelahayerên. There are also many dialects of Armenian although the number has been drastically reduced since 1915 when the massacres in Turkey began an exodus. [18] X Research source A quote that includes no in Armenian is, Ոչ իմ հալը, ոչ քո հարսանիք գալը, or Voch im hal, voch qo harsaniq gal. The literal translation means, neither my situation, nor you coming to a wedding. And it means something like, I am not in the mood for what you’re doing right now. [19] X Research source
Hebrew has 22 letters and is written from right to left in a Semitic script. [21] X Research source In Hebrew, “I have no idea” is transliterated as, ein li mu-sag and is written, אין לי מושג. [22] X Research source A Hebrew saying with lo is, מרוב עצים לא רואים את היער, and it is transliterated as merov etzim lo ro’im eth ha’ya’ar. Directly translated it means that the trees can’t see the forest,and is the same as the English saying that means you should be careful to keep the big picture in mind when struggling through day-to-day life. [23] X Research source
Arabic is spoken in Northern Africa, the Arabian peninsula, and parts of the Middle East. There are many countries with Arabic as an official language including Algeria, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Quatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, and Yemen. Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world with 206 million native speakers and 24 million second language speakers. [26] X Research source To say, “I have no idea,” you would say, La adril! In Arabic it is written as, لاأدري. A quote in Egyptian Arabic with la is transliterated as la yuldaġ il-mo’men min goHr marratein. Written in Arabic it is, لا يلدغ المؤمن من جحر مرتين, and it literally means the believer is not bitten from the same hole twice. Which is the equivalent to the saying in English, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. [27] X Research source
Malta is an archipelago located in the Mediterranean sea between the Northern coast of Africa and Sicily. Malta was first populated by Arabs in 870 CE who stayed until 1090 when it was taken over by Europeans. Malta was ruled by various Europeans including the Sicilians until 1530, the Italians until 1798, and finally the British until 1964 when Malta gained independence. To say, never you would say quatt pronounced ’at. Nothing in Maltese is xejn pronounced sheyn. To say, none you would say hadd pronounced had. A quote from Maltese is, Hadd ma jiehu xejn mieghu, and it means something like no one takes anything with him after he dies. [29] X Research source
Swahili is a hybrid between the Arabic and Bantu languages. In its beginning, Swahili developed through the contact of Arabic traders with the Bantu-speaking tribes. Much of its vocabulary is borrowed from Arabic while the grammar is from the Bantu language. The original scripts that are found of Swahili were written in Arabic but Swahili now uses the Roman alphabet. [31] X Research source To say, “No thank you” in Swahili you would say, Hapana asante. [32] X Research source A quote with hapana in Swahili is kuambizana kuko kusikilizana hapana. and means that no one ever listens to advice.
Mandarin is the most spoken language in China as well as the world. There are 873 million native speakers of Chinese and 178 million second language speakers. It is an official language in China and Singapore. People in the north of the Yangtze River in China speak Mandarin along with other parts of the population, and overall, it is the native language of ⅔ of the population. There are four types of Mandarin spoken in China with the most prominent form being the form in the capital, Beijing. The form in Beijing is considered Modern Standard Chinese or Guoyu. [36] X Research source To say “No, thank you,” you would say bu2xie4, and it is written as 不谢. The tone 2 means that the pronunciation of bu2xie4 is a middle pitch that is rising, much like a question in English. The 4 means that it is a high tone falling and should be said like a curt command in English. An informal way to say, “No need to thank me” or “Not at all” in Mandarin is bu2yong4xie4. It is written, 不用谢. A quote with bù in Mandarin is 不作死就不会死 or bù zuō sǐ jiù bú huì sǐ. Literally translated it means “no zuo no die” which means that if you don’t do foolish things, you won’t be in danger of the repercussions of your folly. [37] X Research source
“Never” in Burmese is be daw hma. “No problem” in Burmese is pyat tha nar ma hoat ba bu. The rounded script of written Burmese comes from the use of palm leaves as the original writing materials. Early Burmese script can be found from as early as the 11th century, and this script was a derivative of the Pāli alphabet of India and Taiwan. [40] X Research source Burmese is a tonal language like Mandarin and has three tones, high, low, and creaky as well as a stopped and reduced tone.
Vietnamese is the official language of Vietnam and is spoken by approximately 70 million people. The dialects in Vietnamese do not differ much more than those of the various parts of the United States except for two rural dialects, Hue and Vinh. Standard Vietnamese is the dialect of the educated near Hanoi, the capital. As a language, much of Vietnamese vocabulary has been borrowed from Chinese. A quote with Không is, Điếc không sợ súng and it means that he who knows nothing doubts nothing. [43] X Research source
