# Ba



## Joannes

(Today in the series _Very general questions that ask for contexts rather than very specific ones in which context is indispensable for an appropriate treatment but that are as hard to answer_: )

Hi all 

Exciting moment, my first post in the Rumanian forum. 

In answers countering questions that imply a certain claim, *ba* is used in Rumanian. For example: *Nai plătit? - Ba da!* 'Didn't you pay - Yes I did.'; *Ai plătit? - Ba (nu)!* 'Did you pay? - No, I didn't'.

I would like to know what you would propose as a literal translation for *ba*, and/or with what word you would capture the function of *ba*: is it an emphatic particle, a contrastive particle, ...?

I would also like to know in what other contexts *ba* can be used, and what meaning it conveys then.

I hope you can help me. I am grateful in advance. 

PS: Oh, and if someone would be aware of the etymology of *ba*, I would be interested knowing about that as well.  Good night.


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## OldAvatar

Welcome to the Romanian forum!

DEX says that *Ba *is having a Slavic origin, possible Serbian or Slavic Bulgarian.
It can be an adverb or a conjuction. It is also used in expressions like *Ba una, ba alta...* (_A thing or another..._), *Ba bine că nu* (sarcastic expression used with the sense of _Sure it is_ or _You bet it is..)._
But its mainly purpose is to accentuate a negation (or sometimes a certain status of discontent or indecision *– Ba vrei asta, ba vrei aia* _- You want this, you want that_, having the meaning of: _Decide yourself, what do you want?_...)  with or without the presence of *nu *_(__no): _*Ai fost acolo?* (_Have you been there?_). –Ba (though rarely used without _nu _in spoken language).
I guess that an English approximated equivalent could be _Not at all_.

I hope it helped!
Best regards!
OA


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## donjoe

I'd call it contrastive rather than emphatic. It's equivalent to "on the contrary", likely to be used in an argument like this:
- E albă. (It's white.)
- *Ba* e neagră! (No, it's black!)
The contradictory answer could even be shortened to:
- *Ba* neagră! (No, black!)
... with the verb assumed to be the same as the one in the assertion being answered.


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## Joannes

You have both been of good help. Thank you!


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