# young, old



## jana.bo99

Slovenian:  Mlad (a); star(a)! (male, female)

Croatian:   Mlad (a); star (a)! (male, female)

German:    Jung; alt!


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## sam1978

Italian: 
*Giovane *(masculine or feminine; singular); *giovani *(masculine or feminine; singular).
*Vecchio *(singular masculine); *vecchi *(plural masculine); *vecchia *(singular feminine); *vecchie *(plural feminine).


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## Tbubui

Español:

Joven (m/f,s) Jóvenes (m/f,p)
Viejo/Anciano (m,s) Vieja/Anciana (f,s) Viejos/Ancianos (m,p) Viejas/Ancianas (f,p)

m=masculino, f=femenino, s=singular, p=plural


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## Frank06

Hi,

In *Dutch*:
young = jong, jong*e*
old = oud, oud*e*

The additional -e depends upon (in a nutshell)
1. the _grammatical_ gender of the word, and 
2. the use of indefinite and definite articles (and pronouns).

Groetjes,

Frank


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## Flaminius

Hello *jana.bo99*,

I am just wondering what you mean by the exclamation mark after "old" in your enquiry.  Are you looking for the vocative case for each adjective?

Japanese:
Adjective paradigms in Japanese do not have conjugations for vocative.  If you want to exclaim how young / old some thing is, the dictionary form is used (optionally followed by modality particles).

young: wakai 若い
old: toshi-o totteiru 年をとっている

Note that the Japanese expression for "old" is solely used as a reference to the age of a person or an animal.  Inanimate objects that have been around for a long time is referred to by another adjective.


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## Stéphane89

In French:

*Young = Jeune*
*Old* = *Vieux* _(masculine)_ ; *Vieille* _(feminine)_


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## Mjolnir

*Hebrew*:

Old
Male, singular - זקן, מבוגר, קשיש and probably a few more. (zaken, mevugar, kashish)
Male, plural - זקנים, מבוגרים, קשישים (zkenim, mevugarim, kshishim)
Female, forms - זקנה, מבוגרת, קשישה (zkena, mevugeret, kshisha)
Female, plural - זקנות, מבוגרות, קשישות (zkenot, mevugarot, kshishot)

Young
Male, singular - צעיר (tzair)
Male, plural - צעירים (tzeirim)
Female, forms - צעירה (tzeira)
Female, plural - צעירות (tzeirot)


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## robbie_SWE

In Romanian:

young = *tânăr*/*tineri* (m/pl.), *tânără*/*tinere* (f/pl.) even the older form *june*/*juni* (m/pl.), *jună*/*june* (f/pl.)

old = *bătrân*/*bătrâni *(m/pl.), *bătrână*/*bătrâne *(f/pl.) and *vechi* (m/pl.), *veche*/*vechi* (f/pl.) (_N.B. "vechi" is mostly used when you're talking about things not people_)

In Swedish: 

young = *ung*/*ungt*/*unga*

old = *gammal*/*gammalt*/*gamla*

 robbie


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## Chazzwozzer

*Turkish:* genç; yaşlı!


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## Outsider

From Jana's choice of words ("young", not "new") I presume that the question is about the words "young" and "old" as applied to people, not things. In Portuguese, there are many words, especially in colloquial speech, but I would say the main ones are:

for "young": 

*novo* (m) and *nova* (f) -- only as an adjective;
*jovem* (unisex);
*moço* (m) and *moça* (f) -- in Brazil;
*miúdo* (m) and *miúda* (f) -- mostly for children;
*pequeno* (m) and *pequena* (f) -- mostly for children;​for "old":

*velho* (m) and *velha* (f) (informal and somewhat crude);
*velhote* (m) and *velhota* (f) (less informal than _velho_ and _velha_ in my opinion, but may still be perceived as disrespectful in some contexts and by some people; I would not use such words when addressing an old person, though I might use it when talking about an old person with someone else);
*idoso* (m) and *idosa* (f) (formal).​Euphemisms for "old person" often used are the phrases* pessoa de meia idade* (middle-aged person), *pessoa de idade* (aged person), and *pessoa mais velha* (older person).


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## Nizo

Esperanto:  _juna, maljuna_

Afrikaans:  _jong, oud_


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## ldorrodli

_Czech_
young, masculine
animate:
sg: (all gr. cases) _*mladý, mladého, mladému, mladého, mladý!, mladém, mladým*_
pl: _*mladí, mladých, mladým, mladé, mladí!, mladých, mladými*_
inanimate:
sg: same as sg. animate
pl: same as pl. animate, only 1. and 5. case differ - _*mladé*_
young, feminine
sg. _*mladá, mladé, mladé, mladou, mladá!, mladé, mladou*_
pl. same as pl. masculine inanimate
neuter:
sg. _*mladé, mladého, mladému, mladého, mladé!, mladém, mladým*_
pl. _*mladá, mladých, mladým, mladá, mladá! mladých, mladými*_

_*starý*_ (old) is conjugated in the same way


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## Alijsh

Persian: *javân* (young), *pir* (old). Persian is gender-neutral and adjectives don't agree in (gender and) number with the noun they modify. So just one form for a singular or plural noun.


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## Quelle

*German*:
old = alt (-e,-er, -es, -em, -en)
young = jung (-e, -er, -es, -em, -en)
Without ending in predicative use, endings depending on gender, number, case, article.


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## francois_auffret

In *Breton:*

Young = *Yaouank*
Old = *Kozh*
*(zh, *shows that some dialects pronounce z, and some h)

In *Urdu:*

Young: *Jawân*

Old: *BûRhâ*


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## Setwale_Charm

*Russian:*

молод_ой _(_ая,ое,ые_)
стар_ый_ (_ая, ое, ые_)



*Estonian:* 

noor 
vana


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## Hakro

*Finnish:*

nuori
vanha


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## Setwale_Charm

*Irish:*

og

sean


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## BholoTz

Indonesia 

Young = Muda
Old = Tua


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## jana.bo99

Hi Outsider,

Of course you can say:

Old wine (better than young);
Old city;
Old house.

Here I think about young and old people. Sorry I didn't mention it.

jana.bo


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## kongkankan

Chinese:
young:年轻的as an ajective； 青年as a noun
old:老的as an ajective ； 老as a noun


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## Maja

Serbian:

young - *mlad* (male) / *mlada* (female)
old - *star* (male) / *stara* (female).


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## kaverison

Tamil
Simple words like these, makes you realize how something easy in one language, makes you think more in another. 

There are several ways to say young and old in Tamil. In current trend, any of these could be heard/read  depending on place, people and/or context!

Educated Tamil mostly resembles, old/standard/literary Tamil, but colloquial Tamil is becoming more pidginized - sometimes, we end up using simple word expressions instead of a single word). Let me try:

(As in people)
Young = iLam, siru (small)
ILaignan (male), iLaigni (female - modern usage),
iLa vayathinar - young aged (gender neutral)

Also, siRu vayathu (literally, small age)
SiRu vayathinar (those with small age)

Old = mudhu (standard/literary Tamil)
Muthiyavar (male), muuthaatti (female)

Or simply,
Vayadhaanavargal - (those) who aged!

Colloquially
Sinnavan (male) - small person - in age

Old = Periyavar (male), vayathaanavar
Periyamma (female),

Also,
thaathaa (male), paatti (female) - literally, grandpa and grandma

( in Chennai,India where Tamil takes almost a pidgin form)
young = sirusu, old = perisu

------
Also,

(as in condition, age)

Old = pazhaiya
Young  = puthiya

Pronuniation
Zh is like American R.
L is like "rl" in girl.
Gn combo is nasal n, i think, like in spanish ñ
r is like r in run
R is like spanish R? Or the r in like in drum, I think


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## Dymn

*Catalan*:
_jove, vell
jove, vella
joves_ (or _jóvens_), _vells
joves_ (or _jóvens_), _velles_

masc. sing. - fem. sing. - masc. plural - fem. plural


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## apmoy70

Greek:

Young: Adj. *«νέος, -α, -ο»* [ˈne.os] (masc.), [ˈne.a] (fem.), [ˈne.o] (neut.) < Classical adj. *«νέος, -ᾱ, -ον» néŏs* (masc.), *néā* (fem.), *néŏn* --> _new, young, youthful, unusual, unheard_ (PIE *neuo- _new_ cf Skt. नव (nava), Hitt. neu̯a, ToA ñu, ToB ñuwe, Lith. naūjas, Lat. novus, Arm. նոր (nor), Proto-Germanic *niwjaz, Proto-Slavic *novъ).
Old:
1) Adj. *«γέρος»* [ʝeros] (masc.) --> _old man_, *«γέροντας»* [ˈʝeɾondas] --> _elder_ < Classical masc. adj. *«γέρων» gérōn* --> _old man, elder_ (PIE *ǵerh₂- _to be(come) old_ cf Skt. जरन्त (járanta), _old man_).
2) Adj. *«γριά»* [ɣriˈa] (fem.) --> _old woman_ < Koine adj. *«γραῖᾰ» graîă* (Doric *«γραίᾱ» graíā*) --> _old woman, eldress_ < Classical fem. adj. *«γραῦς» graûs* --> _old woman_ (PIE *ǵreh₂-iu- < *ǵerh₂- _to be(come) old_); adj. *«γερόντισσα»* [ʝeˈɾondisa] --> _eldress_, the Byzantine feminine form of the Classical masc. adj. *«γέρων» gérōn* (see above).
3) Adj. *«παλαιός/-λιός, -ά/-λιά, -ό/-λιό»* [paleˈos] & colloq. [paˈʎos] (masc.), [paleˈa] & colloq. [paˈʎa] (fem.), [paleˈo] & colloq. [paˈʎo] (neut.) --> _old, former_ < Classical adj. *«παλαιός, -ὰ, -όν» pălaiós* (masc.), *pălaià* (fem.), *pălaión* (neut.) --> _old, ancient, former, aged_ (with obscure etymology) > Eng. prefix _paleo-_ (e.g. _paleolithic_).


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## Dymn

apmoy70 said:


> Greek:
> 
> Young: Adj. *«νέος, -α, -ο»* [ˈne.os] (masc.), [ˈne.a] (fem.), [ˈne.o] (neut.) < Classical adj. *«νέος, -ᾱ, -ον» néŏs* (masc.), *néā* (fem.), *néŏn* --> _new, young, youthful, unusual, unheard_ (PIE *neuo- _new_ cf Skt. नव (nava), Hitt. neu̯a, ToA ñu, ToB ñuwe, Lith. naūjas, Lat. novus, Arm. նոր (nor), Proto-Germanic *niwjaz, Proto-Slavic *novъ).


Interesting. Do you always use the same word for 'new' and 'young'?


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## apmoy70

Diamant7 said:


> Interesting. Do you always use the same word for 'new' and 'young'?


Yes it's one of the peculiarities of Greek, it's the same word since the classical language


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## mataripis

Tagalog: 1.)young plant- kasibulan, old plant- magulang na. 2.)Young man- binata, old man- gurang. 3.) Young age- kabataan, old age- sa katandaan.


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## ger4

Latvian 

(indefinite forms only, nominative): 

_young <> old
jauns <> vecs _(masc. sg.)
_jauna <> veca_ (fem. sg.)
_jauni <> veci _(masc. pl.)
_jaunas <> vecas_ (fem. pl.)

Edit: young = new


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## ThomasK

Flaminius said:


> young: wakai 若い
> old: toshi-o totteiru 年をとっている


I am surprised that the concept "old" is rendered by - what looks like - a combination of two (other) concepts [_please forgive me if I have a wrong idea of the structure of words in Japanese_].



robbie_SWE said:


> In Swedish:
> old = *gammal*/*gammalt*/*gamla *


This is funny for us, speakers of Dutch, because the same root in Dutch refers to shakiness, ramshackle things (_een gammele auto_, a delapidated car, that becomes unsafe...).


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## Flaminius

ThomasK said:


> I am surprised that the concept "old" is rendered by - what looks like - a combination of two (other) concepts [_please forgive me if I have a wrong idea of the structure of words in Japanese_].


Like I mentioned in the post you replied to, inanimate objects take another adjective.  And it's much simpler; _furui_.  Historically, this was used for people too.


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## ger4

Does Chinese make similar distinctions as Japanese - 'animate old' vs 'inanimate old'? 

I think Turkish does (but I'm not sure if it is an exact parallel with Japanese) --> old Old


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## SuperXW

Holger2014 said:


> Does Chinese make similar distinctions as Japanese - 'animate old' vs 'inanimate old'?
> 
> I think Turkish does (but I'm not sure if it is an exact parallel with Japanese) --> old Old


In some contexts, yes.

The general rule:
young 年轻 - old 老
new 新 - old 旧

老 is "aged". It is usually for people and animals, but can also discribe something made many years ago, especially for those with people's affections.
For example, 老房子 an old house, 老照片 an old photo. 
However, it generally cannot be used as the antonym of "new". If something is about to be broken, but it is used for only one year, we definitely won't use 老.
老衣服 “old” cloths, 老书 “old” books. 
(People do keep some cloths and books for many years and have affections towards them, even so, we just don't use 老. I don't know why.)
旧 is typically used for inanimated, used items, including cloths and books.
旧衣服 old cloths, 旧书 old books.


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## Messquito

幼 could be another for young in Chinese.


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## Gavril

Welsh
_hen_ "old", cognate w/ Irish _sin, _Latin _senex_ (both meaning "old"), etc.
_ieuanc_ / _ifanc_ "young", cognate with Latin _iuvencus_ "young", English _young_, etc.

Armenian
*ծեր* (_tser_) "old, aged" (describing a person), cognate with e.g. Greek _gêras_ "old age"
*հին* (_hin_) "old" (describing a thing), cognate with Welsh _hen_, Latin _senex_, etc.
*երիտասարդ* (_yeritasard_) "young", possibly from unattested Persian *_rēta-sard_ "young of years"


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## johterry

mataripis said:


> Tagalog: 1.)young plant- kasibulan, old plant- magulang na. 2.)Young man- binata, old man- gurang. 3.) Young age- kabataan, old age- sa katandaan.


Việt Nam 
Hello = Xin Chào


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## MyriadLeaves

Danish:

Young:
- ung (singular) - unge (plural) - yngre (comparative) - yngst (superlative)
Old:
- gammel (singular) - gamle (plural) - ældre* (comparative) - ældst* (superlative)
*The forms "gamlere" and "gamlest" are in Standard Danish considered incorrect and wholly dialectal according to the _Ordbog over det Danske Sprog _(Dictionary over the Danish Language).


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## Pugnator

Latin: Canus ( old man) senex (old man) aetate provectus,a,um (Old man,old woman, old something with neuter gender)
Anus (old woman)
Neapolitan:
Viecchio (old man) Viecchia (old woman)


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