# I am afraid, I fear, I have fear, X scares me



## ThomasK

I am aware that there has been a thread about 'fear', but I'd like to explore the topic a little further and compare the above three structures, see whether they are available in your language, what variety there is as for roots... So the main thing is: how (literally) can you translate the above expressions? 

Dutch : 
(1)* ik ben bang *(I am afraid)
(2) *ik vrees* (I fear)
(3)* ik heb angst/ (vrees)/ schrik (voor)* [ lit.:_fear for_,in dialects it might be 'van' (of)]
(4) *X maakt mij bang *

I prefer not to refer to sudden fear, suggested by 'to frighten', 'to terrify', but if useful or necessary, we can...


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## 810senior

In Japanese:

(1) 私は怖い_watashi wa kowai_ I am afraid
_watashi wa_: I, nom.
_kowai_: adj. scared, afraid

(2) 私は恐れている_watashi wa osorete iru_ I fear
osorete iru: inf. osoreru(to fear), we use this word much often as continuous(_osorete iru_, lit. to be fearing).

(3) 私は恐怖を持っている_watashi wa kyoufu wo motteiru_ I have fear
It's not common and a bit awkward, but we can say 私は恐怖症だ(watashi wa kyoufushou da) instead, literally meaning I'm a fear.
kyoufu wo:acc. fear
motteiru:inf. motsu(to have), often used as continuous.

(4) *X*は私を怖がらせる _*X* wa watashi wo kowagaraseru_ *X *scares me
it's not common, either._
kowagaraseru_:inf. _kowagaru_(tend to fear), derived from adj. _kowai_(afraid). _-aseru_ is an affix meaning the causative. (lit. to make someone afraid)


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## apmoy70

Greek:


Fear is *«φόβος»* [ˈfovos] (masc.) < Classical deverbal masc. noun *«φόβος» pʰóbŏs* --> _fear, fright_ < Classical deponent v. *«φέβομαι» pʰébŏmai* --> _to flee, take flight_ (PIE *bʰegʷ- _to run away, flee_ cf Proto-Slavic *běžati > Rus. бежать (to run, flee), Ukr. бігти, Bel. бегчы; Lith. bėgti (to run, flee), Ltv. bēgt (to run, flee)).
(1) MoGr mediopassive v. *«φοβάμαι»* [foˈvame], learned *«φοβούμαι»* [foˈvume] < Classical middle voice v. *«φοβέομαι/φοβοῦμαι» pʰŏbéŏmai* (uncontracted)/ *pʰoboûmai* --> _to be frightened_.
(2) idem
(3) either the same, or periphrastically *«έχω το φόβο του/της»* [ˈexo to ˈfovo tu] (in case the cause of my fear is masculine e.g. *«θάνατος»* [ˈθanatos] --> _death_), [ˈexo to ˈfovo tis] (in case the cause of my fear is feminine e.g. *«ασθένεια»* 
[aˈsθeni.a] --> _illness_) --> _I have the fear of death/illness_.
(4) *«Χ με φοβίζει»* [X me foˈvizi] --> _X frightens/scares me_. 
ΜoGr v. *«φοβίζω»* [foˈvizo] --> _to frighten, scare_ < Byz. denominative v. *«φοβίζω» phobízō* < Classical v. *«φοβέω/φοβῶ» pʰŏbéō* (uncontracted)/ *pʰobô* (contracted) --> _to put to flight, frighten_.


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## luitzen

In the Netherlands, (3) would be "Ik ben bang voor". You can't say really "Ik heb angst/vrees voor/van". Especially using "schrik" is quite weird in this context. (4) is also a little bit weird to me, I would rather say "Ik wordt bang van X".

To me it's really hard to understand what you're exactly asking for and therefore I can imagine that every non-Dutch answer you get might be useless. I think it would be wise if you rephrase your question in English or first ask on the Dutch forum what would be common throughout the Dutch language area.

In West Frisian we can use the following words to indicate fear:
- bang wêze (to be afraid)
- benaud wêze (to be afraid, lit. to be short of breath)
- frees (fear)
- freze/freezje (to fear)
- eangst (fear/angst/anxiety)
- eangst/frees hawwe (to have fear)
- skrikke (to get startled/frightened/scared)


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## sound shift

(3) "I have fear" is not available in English. The other three constructions are available.


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## luitzen

sound shift said:


> (3) "I have fear" is not available in English. The other three constructions are available.


You have the (loaned) expression "I have anxiety", though it's meaning is rather limited.


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## Dymn

*Catalan*:
1) _Estic espantat_
2) _Temo_
3) _Tinc por_
4) _X em fa por / X m'espanta_

Thus, a frightening thing in Catalan _espanta_ 'scares' or _fa por_ 'makes fear'; and a frightened person_ tem_ 'fears' or _té por_ 'has fear'. The most common way to say 'I am afraid' in Catalan would be "_tinc por"_, since Romance languages are more likely to have (hunger, thirst, fear, etc.) than English.

In *Spanish* the same:
1) _Estoy asustado / espantado_
2) _Temo_
3) _Tengo miedo_
4) _X me da miedo* / X me asusta_

* Spanish uses the verb _dar _meaning 'to give'. Catalan instead uses _fer _'to make'. It's also a common tendency to use these verbs in similar structures: _fer un petó _vs. _dar un beso _'give a kiss'.


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## kloie

Serbian and croatian
Bojim se 
Plašim se


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## ThomasK

luitzen said:


> In the Netherlands, (3) would be "Ik ben bang voor". You c*an't say really "*Ik heb angst/vrees voor/van". Especially using "schrik" is quite weird in this context. (4) is also a little bit weird to me, I would rather say "Ik wordX bang van X".


 Here we go. This is quite unpleasant to me. I have used all kinds of expressions mainly to see how one concept 'FEAR' is "realized" in different languages. And I seem to be getting exactly the answers I wished for. Just by the way: I have just found this at taalunieversum.be: 


> In de standaardtaal in België is _schrik hebben_ gangbaar als synoniem van _bang zijn_. _Schrik hebben_ wordt vaak met het voorzetsel _van_ (ook wel met _voor_) of met een _dat_-zin gecombineerd.


 And at some Dutch site I find: 


> Men kan _*angst hebben voor*_ de meest alledaagse zaken en dat kan zich op vele manieren uiten. Herkent u zich hierin? Dan kunt u via deze site, maar ook...


 I'd hoped for some "tolerance" here, and less "judgmentalism", I am sorry...


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## luitzen

I'm sorry, I didn't want to be judgmental. I was not really sure what your intention for the topic was. I'm not saying that anything is wrong, but that it may not be too common throughout the Dutch language area and that I wasn't really sure you what you wanted to know.


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## Armas

Finnish

(1) Olen peloissani (literally "I am in my fears", there is no such adjective in Finnish as "afraid")
(2) Pelkään
(3) Minulla on pelko jostakin = I have a fear from something
(3) Minulla on jonkin pelko = I have a fear/phobia of something
(4) X pelottaa minua (this is also an impersonal verb: Minua pelottaa = I am afraid)

(1) Olen kammoissani (in my fears)
(2) Kammoan/Kammoksun
(3) Minulla on jonkin kammo = I have a phobia of something
(4) X kammottaa minua

The second group of words denotes stronger fear and possibly ((2) and (4)) aversion.


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## ThomasK

@L: apology accepted. There are differences between Dutch and Flemish standards, and yet I am trying to go for a way in-between. 

 @Armas: interesting to read about those different wordings... 
 - do you have an adj. for 'glad' and 'angry'? I suppose you do, but still...
 - what is the 'on' in (3)? It is not a preposition, is it? 
 - is the _pelottaa _something like 'to scare'? How do you then analyse _X pelottaa minua _(S V Obj?)?  
 But then you have some 4 or 5 roots, don't you? Or no, only 2 or 3, I guess... I think Dutch as three : *ang- (b-ang), vrees, schrik*, but there are some historic, now dialectal, ones too like *schuw *(shy, timid), *benauwd *(lit. narrow, synonym of 'ang')...


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## ger4

In German, I think we don't really distinguish between (1) and (3). For (2) there are several options so it's surprisingly difficult to find equivalents for the Dutch versions...

(1)(3) - version 1 - _Ich habe Angst_
_ich_: I 
_habe_: have
_Angst_: fear (direct object)

(1)(3) - v2 - _Mir ist angst_ (or) _bange_ (or both) _angst und bange*_ 
_mir_: to me (dative case)
_ist_: is
_angst, bange_: fear (not used as a noun here)

(2) - version 1 -  _Ich (be)fürchte, dass...**_
_ich (be)fürchte_: I fear, I am afraid 
_dass_: that (conjunction)

(2) - v2 - _Ich fürchte mich_ 
_ich fürchte_: I fear (intransitive)
_mich_: myself (i.e. reflexive)

(2) - v3 - _Ich befürchte etwas_
_ich befürchte_: I fear (transitive)
_etwas_: something (accusative, direct object)

(4) _X macht mir Angst_
_macht_: makes
_mir_: me (dative, indirect object)
_Angst_: fear (accusative, direct object)

* used more figuratively than version 1
** doesn't always indicate a very strong sense of fear. It can be used as the English 'I am afraid that...'

Trying to sum it up: 
- a frightening thing _macht jemandem Angst_ (lit. 'makes someone fear [noun]') - as in (4)
- a frightened person _hat Angst_ (lit. 'has fear') -as in (1)(3) - or _fürchtet sich_ (lit. 'fears him/herself') or _(be)fürchtet etwas_ (lit. 'fears something') as in (2)


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## ThomasK

The most striking difference as for me as a Dutch-speaking person is that you use this adjective "bang(e)" in another way than we do. Impersonal use of "bange" is something we do not have. And we do not have this reflexive verb either. But nor does French, whereas they have a lot...


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## Armas

ThomasK said:


> @L: apology accepted. There are differences between Dutch and Flemish standards, and yet I am trying to go for a way in-between.
> 
> @Armas: interesting to read about those different wordings...
> - do you have an adj. for 'glad' and 'angry'? I suppose you do, but still...
> - what is the 'on' in (3)? It is not a preposition, is it?
> - is the _pelottaa _something like 'to scare'? How do you then analyse _X pelottaa minua _(S V Obj?)?
> But then you have some 4 or 5 roots, don't you? Or no, only 2 or 3, I guess... I think Dutch as three : *ang- (b-ang), vrees, schrik*, but there are some historic, now dialectal, ones too like *schuw *(shy, timid), *benauwd *(lit. narrow, synonym of 'ang')...



Hello, Thomas. Yes we have glad (iloinen < ilo "joy, delight") and angry (vihainen < viha "anger", suuttunut < suuttua "to get angry"). The adj. formed from pelko (fear) is pelokas = fearful, timid.
"on" in (3) means "is": Minulla on pelko = At me is fear = I have a fear. Finnish lacks the verb "to have".
pelottaa is formed with the causative suffix -(t)t-, i.e. "to cause fear, scare". "To scare" however has broader meaning than pelottaa. In Finnish the distinctions here are very clear: pelästyttää/säikäyttää = to scare, startle (suddenly, by surprise); pelottaa = to scare, cause fear (constantly); pelotella = to do something in order to cause fear, perhaps "to (try to) intimidate".
I'm not sure where you found the 4 or 5 roots...? There are only 2 roots kamm- and pel(k)-. The appearance or disappearance of "k" in pelko-pelkään-pelottaa is simply phonological, called consonant gradation. We do have other roots for timid and shy.


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## ThomasK

Great information again. As for the roots, I was simply mistaken, and only realized that in the second part of my sentence... Again the various derivations are impressive: we can derive words in Dutch, but with you those suffixes offer a lot more possibilities. 

It seems as if the adjective is impersonal , if the fear is linked with an object causing it in some languages (as when translating 'to be afraid of' for example).


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## ThomasK

About four years later I realize I wonder especially about whether one stem will do to express these emotions, which seem so related. The key word in Dutch is "*bang*" (related with "*angst*" (fear) and the adj. "*eng*" (narrow), as fear generates a feeling of "narrowness", which explains that we in my dialect feel "benauwd", "nauw" meaning the same as "eng" (and related with "narrow" in English)...


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## KalAlbè

Haitian Creole makes no distinction between 1-3. All being _*Mwen(M) pè X*_, and adding pou at the end for number 3: _*M pè pou X.*_
4.* X fè m pè*


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## ThomasK

KalAlbè said:


> Haitian Creole makes no distinction between 1-3. All being _*Mwen(M) pè X*_, and adding pou at the end for number 3: _*M pè pou X.*_
> 4.* X fè m pè*


I guess: "pé" = peur, "pou" = pour?


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## KalAlbè

ThomasK said:


> I guess: "pé" = peur, "pou" = pour?


*Pè *not *pé*, but correct on both accounts.


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## bibax

Czech:

(2) *bojím se* (I fear); reflexive verb *báti se* [... (gen.)] = to fear [of ...];
(3) *mám strach* (acc.) [*z* ... (gen.)] (lit. I have fear [from/of ...], Ich habe Angst); noun *strach* (Panslavic, Rus. страх) = fear, peur, φόβος, ...;

Both variants are equivalent:

_*Bojím se*, že nepřijde. = *Mám strach*, že nepřijde. = I am afraid that she won't come.

*Bojím se* Danaů (gen.) ... = *Mám strach* z Danaů ... = Timeo Danaos (acc.) ..._


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## Sardokan1.0

In Romance languages there are various verbs to translate those concepts

*Italian :

Spaventare* = To scare -> *Sono spaventato* = I'm scared
*Temere *= To fear -> *Temo *= I fear
*Avere paura* = To have fear (to be afraid) -> *Ho paura* = I have fear (I'm afraid of)
*Paura *= Fear
*Ho paura dei cani* = I have fear of the dogs (I'm afraid of dogs)



*Sardinian :*

*Assucconare, Isprammare, Ispantare* = To scare -> *So assucconadu/isprammadu/ispantadu* = I'm scared
*Tìmere, Timìre* = to fear -> *Timo *= I fear -> *So timende* (I'm fearing)
*Timòria *= fear
*Timo sos canes* = I fear the dogs
*So timende sos canes* = I'm fearing the dogs (right now, when you are in front of the dogs)


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## Awwal12

Russian:
я боюсь (yá boyús') + gen., lit. "I fear-myself (of sth)" (just one of those verbs which just don't have any non-reflexive counterpart; still their reflexiveness has a syntactic impact);
мне страшно (mné stráshno), intr., lit. "to-me (it is) fearsome" (> I am afraid; cf. identical impersonal structures in Russian for "I am cold", "I am hot", "I don't feel well" and some other).
Only the first variant is used in the figurative sense (like English "I am afraid").


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