# "janai" at the end of the sentence



## Nino83

Hello everyone.

I read that _janai_ can have some different meanings.
_kirei janai = it's not beautiful_ => simple negative sentence => normal intonation
_kirei janai (desuka)? = it's beautiful, isn't it?_ => tag question => interrogative intonation

They clearly differ in intonation.

Then there is this one: _kirei janai desu ka! = it's beautiful!_
This expression has two colloquial versions: _kirei janai ka!_ (masculine) and _kirei janai!_ (feminine).

My question is about the feminine colloquial version.
If a girl, a woman, says _kirei janai_ how can one know if she's saying "_it's not beautiful_" or "_it's beautiful!_"?

These two sentences are "a bit" different. 
Is there any difference in pause and/or intonation?

For example, in this page I don't hear a big difference between these two sentences:
*マギーじゃない= Maggie janai = not Maggie
*マギーじゃない(ですか)!  = Maggie janai(desuka)  = Oh, there’s/that’s Maggie! / Hey, you are Maggie! (the one where "desuka" is omitted).

Thank you


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## SoLaTiDoberman

A.マギーじゃない。 【denial】
It's not Maggie who was responsible for it.
I didn't talk to you, Maggie!
It is not Maggie whom I love.

B.マギーじゃない。【Surprise, Unexpectedness】
Long time no see, Maggie.
You're Maggie, aren't you?
Hey, that girl who is singing is Maggie, right?

It is difficult to distinguish A and B without context or gesture or surprising face or surprising tone of the voice.

In my opinion, B is sometimes pronounced like マギーじゃなぁい? "Nai" is pronounced longer and higher tone. However, in some cases, A and B are pronounced exactly in the same way.
In that case, I would distinguish them by the context, background, their gesture and expressions on their face.


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## DaylightDelight

SLTD is right; it totally depends on the context and the intonation.
In Tokyo area dialect, I think they are spoken like this:

マギー/HLL/ じゃない/LHL/ (It isn't Maggie.)
マギー/HLL/ じゃない/LLH/ (It's Maggie, isn't it?)
マギー/HLL/ じゃない/LHH/ (Did you just say "it isn't Maggie"?)
マギー/HLL/ じゃない/HHL/ (OMG, it's Maggie!)


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## frequency

Nino83 said:


> If _*a girl, a woman, says*_ _kirei janai_ how can one know if she's saying "_it's not beautiful_" or "_it's beautiful!_"?
> *マギーじゃない= Maggie janai = not Maggie
> *マギーじゃない(ですか)!  = Maggie janai(desuka)  = Oh, there’s/that’s Maggie! / Hey, you are Maggie! (the one where "desuka" is omitted).



I think you're talking about マギーじゃな～い？spoken by girls or women.


SoLaTiDoberman said:


> In my opinion, B is sometimes pronounced like マギーじゃなぁい? "Nai" is pronounced longer and higher tone. However, in some cases, A and B are pronounced exactly in the same way.


Yup. (Cross-post)

There are two girls. They're watching Maggie is coming. They're talking and making sure, "It's Maggie, isn't it?"


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## Nino83

frequency said:


> I think you're talking about マギーじゃな～い？spoken by girls or women.


For example I say: その絵画を見て!
And you say: きれいじゃない!
Then, I don't know whether you said "it's not beautiful" or "oh, that's beautiful! 
(I read that a male would say きれいじゃないか! without ambiguity)


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## Nino83

Thank you, SoLaTiDoberman, DaylightDelight. 


SoLaTiDoberman said:


> However, in some cases, A and B are pronounced exactly in the same way.


Yeah, this is the "problem". 


DaylightDelight said:


> マギー/HLL/ じゃない/HHL/ (OMG, it's Maggie!


Interesting!


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## frequency

Nino83 said:


> For example I say: その絵画を見て!
> And you say: きれいじゃない!
> Then, I don't know whether you said "it's not beautiful" or "oh, that's beautiful!



Exactly. You know, if the flow after this speech contains negative comments on the picture, this きれいじゃない would suggest that the picture isn't beautiful. If positive comments, the picture must be beautiful.

Guess how we'd think if the text ends like this, 「その絵画を見て！」「きれいじゃない！」
I don't understand whether it is beautiful or not, and this will be a mystery to me forever. But when I'm a writer and I want to mean it's _not_ a beautiful picture, I'd write 「きれいじゃないね。」. You can avoid confusion and ambiguity, and this can be confirmation between speaker and hearer in the scene.


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## Nino83

frequency said:


> Guess how we'd think if the text ends like this, 「その絵画を見て！」「きれいじゃない！」
> I don't understand whether it is beautiful or not, and this will be a mystery to me forever.


Thanks!
This in writing. But when speaking, do you pronounce them with different intonations, or is it ambiguos also in speech?


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## frequency

Nino83 said:


> do you pronounce them with different intonations,


Yes. Therefore,



> or is it ambiguos also in speech?


No. In speech they can be clearly distinguished.


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## Nino83

ありがとうございます。
あなたたちの回答はよかったじゃないですか!


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## frequency

Nino83 said:


> あなたたちの回答はよかったじゃない*ですか*!


Thank you. This use of ですか probably is to avoid confusion!


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