# Slavic languages: yes



## vasil

I am from Macedonia and macedonian word for "yes" is: "da" I know that it's the same in most of the slavic languages but there is a macedonian dialect spoken in southern macedonia where people use "ya" instead "da" 
I know that "ya" is used allso in some of the slavic languages too. Is it becouse of the influence of german language on slavic languages? There is no german influence on macedonian. Or " ya" is synonim for "da" and it's slavic too...?
POZDRAV


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## Jana337

Hi Vasil, welcome! 

The standard Czech word is "ano" but there's also a colloquial version "jo", obviously of German origin. German could have influenced some South Slavic languages as well, which we will learn as soon as other Slavic forum members visit again. 

Jana

P.S. Pay attention to proper capitalization, please. 


> (...)
> There is no german influence on macedonian.
> (...)


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## Thomas1

In Polish—*tak*, and more colloquial form is *no*.
In Russian—*да*.

I guess that in Silesian dialect or as some say language they use “ja” (at least I remember it sounds like that). Silesia is a geographical region in Poland which was strongly influenced by German.


Thomas


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## czas na zywiec

In southern Poland (Tatra mountains) a real colloquial form is hej. But if you want to be more proper, eithery tak or no work. Personally, I always use hej.


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## werrr

czas na zywiec said:
			
		

> In southern Poland (Tatra mountains) a real colloquial form is hej. But if you want to be more proper, eithery tak or no work. Personally, I always use hej.



Nice, I thought it's only East-Slovakian aberration.


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## alby

Croatian is *DA*, but I think you already know that 

Nataša


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## skye

In Slovenian the standard form is DA and the colloquial form is JA, which means that you will rarely hear DA spoken and rarely see JA written. 


_Note:_
_If I remember it right the only form used to be JA, but then sometime in the 19th century it was decided that JA should be replaced with DA (along with some other mainly spelling reforms). I think this was done in analogy to other Slavic languages. The JA might have been influenced by German. The result was that DA became to be used in the written language, but in the spoken language it never really took off. It sounds very unnatural (at least to me) to hear someone say DA in Slovenian - as if you're trying to sound official or something. _


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## Stormwoken

In Serbian it`s also "da".

"tak" I find funny for some reason, but it really makes sense =)
I didn`t know Slovenian people use "ja"  Interesting.

edit: As for the Silesian, I`ve just asked my friend, it is "Ja".
Funny thing is that in some parts of the Bosnia "ja" is also used. German influence wasn`t quite as prominent there.


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## Marijka

Ukrainian : *так* and sometimes *ну *


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## barc

Yep, that's right in Polish you'd say "tak" or "no" .. although "no" is a bit informal.


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## czas na zywiec

werrr said:
			
		

> Nice, I thought it's only East-Slovakian aberration.


 
Hehe, we lived near the border (about a 30 minute drive) so I know some Slovak from being so close. But hej entered into our vocabulary so I don't really think of it as Slovak anymore.


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## Suane

Slovak; formal word is áno, and the informal is hej...but I think that it is used in whole Slovakia, not only in Eastern part...

I personally use "hej" a lot... (once I answered "hej" to my teacher because of not thinking about it and she didn't like it... )

We also use "no", but it has a bit another function and sense...and more in the connection with another word, as "no presne" as an agreement, and not as an answer to direct question but rather as an agreement after someone's talk...
We also use- " no a " or " no a ?" as an rather informal answer when someone wants to say something like yes on the question but in the sense that it is either obvious question on which the answer is always yes or when someone is asking about something that the another person does and he/she thinks that it is a bit unusual and the other person wants to express that it is normal according to him/her.

I think that for someone from another language background can be interesting that "no" can mean yes...


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## natasha2000

Suane said:
			
		

> Slovak;....
> I think that for someone from another language background can be interesting that "no" can mean yes...


 
As a matter of fact, DA. 

It can be very, very confusing. How do you, Slovaks and Polish, then say NO?

But you know, you're not the only one.... Greeks also say NO for YES. And NO is pronounced as OHI (don't ask me how it is spelled, I don't have a clue . I just heard it when I visited Greece many years ago)

And in Serbian, you've must have concluded already, YES is DA. 
On the other hand, the use of YA is interesting. I know that my Grandma from Bosnia always used it as DA, but the pronunciation of it is nothing like German one, not at all. While the German JA is long andstrong, the YA my Grandma used (and not only she, but a lot of Bosnians, too) was short breathed YA, and usually, repeated varous times, normally used as a synonim for: "Yes, I understand you what you're talking", not for confirminhg anuthing. For example:

- Did you call Haso as you promissed? - Da. Jesam. (Jesam is a form of a verb to be)

but:

- So, When I came to this firm, I thought everyone was friendly, but soon I would see I was very wrong, because...... - ya, ya... (Meanind, yes, that's it, I understand...)


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## Suane

Natasha2000 said:
			
		

> It can be very, very confusing. How do you, Slovaks and Polish, then say NO?


 
Actually, in Slovakia we don't say "no" for yes, I just comment the other posts that said that... 
We, Slovaks, say "nie" or "ne" as "no" (meaning in English...of course... )

And I've already posted what we say for "yes"...


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## natasha2000

Suane said:
			
		

> Slovak; formal word is áno, and the informal is hej...but I think that it is used in whole Slovakia, not only in Eastern part...
> 
> I personally use "hej" a lot... (once I answered "hej" to my teacher because of not thinking about it and she didn't like it... )
> 
> *We also use "no", *but it has a bit another function and sense...and more in the connection with another word, as "no presne" as an agreement, and *not as an answer to direct question but rather as an agreement* after someone's talk...


 
Sorry, but reading this, I understood it as if Slovaks also say NO as affirmation. I obviously misunderstood something...


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## werrr

Czech and Slovak "no" is similar to English "well" and I think it's exactly the same as German "na".


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## Stormwoken

Judging by what Suane wrote, Czech/Slovak "no" may be related to Serbian "nego" in certain cases, since it`s the word that could fit in with the mentioned situations. What`s interesting is that we also have a word "no", semantically related to "nego".


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## tvdxer

This may be an etymology of "da", the Russian word for "yes", to which I am sure most other like Slavic affirmatives is related.

http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/morph.cgi?word=[da]

Unfortunately, I can't read Russian, but I am sure somebody else here can.


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## natasha2000

tvdxer said:
			
		

> This may be an etymology of "da", the Russian word for "yes", to which I am sure most other like Slavic affirmatives is related.
> 
> http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/morph.cgi?word=[da]
> 
> Unfortunately, I can't read Russian, but I am sure somebody else here can.


 
The link does not work.


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## Thomas1

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> The link does not work.


It's just a dictionary entry for Russian "да" try here, it should work, I hope.


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## natasha2000

Thomas1 said:
			
		

> It's just a dictionary entry for Russian "да" try here, it should work, I hope.


 
This one works. Thanks


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## tvdxer

What does it say it came from (if it does at all)?


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## natasha2000

Stormwoken said:
			
		

> Judging by what Suane wrote, Czech/Slovak "no" may be related to Serbian "nego" in certain cases, since it`s the word that could fit in with the mentioned situations. What`s interesting is that we also have a word "no", semantically related to "nego".


 
Stormy, I lost you... Or I am lost, heheh.. 
Could you put some examples for this what you wrote? In Serbian, of course. I don't see how Suane's "no" is or could be similar to Serbian "nego". Thank you.


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## Stormwoken

Perhaps I`m completely off on this one, but this is the kind of connection I see.



			
				Suane said:
			
		

> We also use- " no a " or " no a ?" as an rather informal answer when someone wants to say something like yes on the question but in the sense that it is either obvious question on which the answer is always yes or when someone is asking about something that the another person does and he/she thinks that it is a bit unusual and the other person wants to express that it is normal according to him/her.



From what I gather, "no a?" here  is equivalent (in both cases) to "what else?" in English and "nego?" in Serbian.

I am of the opinion that Serbian "nego" and "no" (Serbian "no", just to make it clear) are the same words ("no" possibly a short form) disambiguated during the centuries (this disambiguation is the very reason that makes it hard to see the connection). Montenegrins use "nego" and "no" interchangeably, which proves my li`l theory here.


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## Thomas1

tvdxer said:
			
		

> What does it say it came from (if it does at all)?


It says nothing about its origin, it's a regular entry for Russian "yes" with no inforamtion on where it came from.


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## natasha2000

Stormwoken said:
			
		

> Perhaps I`m completely off on this one, but this is the kind of connection I see.
> 
> 
> 
> From what I gather, "no a?" here is equivalent (in both cases) to "what else?" in English and "nego?" in Serbian.
> 
> I am of the opinion that Serbian "nego" and "no" (Serbian "no", just to make it clear) are the same words ("no" possibly a short form) disambiguated during the centuries (this disambiguation is the very reason that makes it hard to see the connection). Montenegrins use "nego" and "no" interchangeably, which proves my li`l theory here.


 
Excuse me, please, but I still don't understand.
Serbian word NEGO means BUT and not NO or YES. Example:

I did not take the red ones, BUT the blue ones.
Nisam uzeo crvene, NEGO plave.

If this is not what you meant, please explain, because I really do not understand what you mean.


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## Stormwoken

Yes, I was a bit vague.  

Well, it is true that "nego" doesn`t mean YES or NO, but neither does "no a" in Slovakian. Suane only said that, in a certain context, that phrase has an affirmative meaning.



			
				Suane said:
			
		

> when someone wants to say something like yes on the question but in the sense that it is either obvious question on which the answer is always yes



e.g. A: _Are we the best players in the town, or what?_ B: _Nego?_

"nego" here, bearing in mind the context, has an affirmative meaning.



			
				Suane said:
			
		

> or when someone is asking about something that the another person does and he/she thinks that it is a bit unusual and the other person wants to express that it is normal according to him/her.



e.g. A: _You`re not going to eat that, are you?_ B: _Nego?_

Affirmative meaning, as well. I`m not saying it`s the same thing. I just noticed the semantic (and possibly etymological) overlappings of  similar-sounding words.

I hope this makes it a bit clearer.


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## natasha2000

Stormwoken said:
			
		

> Yes, I was a bit vague.
> 
> Well, it is true that "nego" doesn`t mean YES or NO, but neither does "no a" in Slovakian. Suane only said that, in a certain context, that phrase has an affirmative meaning.
> 
> 
> 
> e.g. A: _Are we the best players in the town, or what?_ B: _Nego?_
> 
> "nego" here, bearing in mind the context, has an affirmative meaning.
> 
> 
> 
> e.g. A: _You`re not going to eat that, are you?_ B: _Nego?_
> 
> Affirmative meaning, as well. I`m not saying it`s the same thing. I just noticed the semantic (and possibly etymological) overlappings of similar-sounding words.
> 
> I hope this makes it a bit clearer.


Thanks for the examples. I must admit, I have never heard anyone using the word NEGO in that way. I did hear NEGO ŠTA, and not with the question mark but with exclamation mark. And, it would mean something like, Of course, .....

I will use your examples:

_



Are we the best players in the town, or what? B: Nego?


Click to expand...

 NEGO ŠTA!!! (Meaning: Nego šta nego da jesmo! - Of course we are!!!)_

_



You`re not going to eat that, are you? B: Nego?


Click to expand...

 NEGO ŠTA ĆU! (Meaning: Nego šta nego da ću da pojedem!!! - Of course I will!!)_

So, I would say that only the sole word NEGO is not enough. At least in Serbia, Belgrade where I come from, it is not used in this way.


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## Stormwoken

Hmm, I`m surprised. You can often hear it in Vojvodina. Usually pronounced with the rising intonation and often used jokingly.


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## natasha2000

Stormwoken said:
			
		

> Hmm, I`m surprised. You can often hear it in Vojvodina. Usually pronounced with the rising intonation and often used jokingly.


 
Hehehe... You're right! I should have noticed you live in Novi Sad.... I know exactly what you're talking about, but this is only limited to Vojvodina, with it special looooong E pronunciation.... But in the end, it has the same meaning as NEGO ŠTA. When I think it better, NEGO ŠTA is also a question, in a way... But it is pronounced as an EXCLAMATIVE question, and the accent is on exclamantion, not in question. Besides, it can be characterized as rethorical question, since the speaker does not expect anz answer...
But, this wouldn't be the word YES. This is only one of manz ways to confirm something, and Serbian is not the only language that has dozens of ways of confirmation. Strictly speaking, this is NOT the answer to the question from this thread.


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## Stormwoken

Ditto @ all you`ve said 

You`re right, hope that my little off-topic remark didn`t start an avalanche of spam


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