# Is Latin doubly negated?



## DeBarcelona

*Is Latin doubly negated?*


What do you think?

I don't speak Latin but I feel curious about the subject.


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## jazyk

No, it's not.

Nullo utor. - No conozco a nadie (literalmente: Nadie conozco). I don't know anybody.
Nihil vidi. - No vi nada (literalmente: nada vi). I didn't see anything.


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## modus.irrealis

To add, in Latin, generally two negatives will also cancel each other out, e.g.

_nemo non audiet_ = nobody will not hear = everybody will hear
_non nullus_ = not none = some

but there do seem to be some exceptions, and in some sentences, a negative does not cancel out another one, e.g.

_eaque nesciebant nec ubi nec qualia essent = _they didn't know where or what kind these things were (where the negatives _nec_ have no cancelling force)


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## DeBarcelona

The 2 replies seem to be contradictory. The fact is I don't have any idea about latin.


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## modus.irrealis

DeBarcelona said:


> The 2 replies seem to be contradictory.



How so? I see jazyk's post as showing that where Spanish (I think) uses two negatives for negative statements, Latin will only have one negative, and I just added that (in general) two negatives in Latin will cancel each other out and give you a positive statement.


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## DeBarcelona

Ah right right, true. I haven't noticed two negatives makes a positive because i didn't expected a language to work this way.

Why should they ever say "non nullus" and not simply a word meaning "some"?


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## Dminor

Nonnullus _is_ their word for "some".


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## DeBarcelona

Oh! very interesting.

And how would they say "nobody knows anything about that"?


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## jazyk

De hoc (sobre eso) nemo (nadie) aliquid (algo) scit (sabe).


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## DeBarcelona

Wow! Was the Captain Nemo named after the latin word?


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## Angel.Aura

*Nemo* is latin and it means nobody.


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## etornudo

DeBarcelona said:


> Ah right right, true. I haven't noticed two negatives makes a positive because i didn't expected a language to work this way.



You've never heard *"Dude, you cannot not go."* [You must go.] ?

Even more formal English:

*We cannot afford not to go.* [We must go.]?


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## Outsider

etornudo said:


> You've never heard *"Dude, you cannot not go."* [You must go.] ?


Probably not, in Catalan.


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## DeBarcelona

> You've never heard *"Dude, you cannot not go."* [You must go.] ?
> 
> Even more formal English:
> 
> *We cannot afford not to go.* [We must go.]?


 
Yes, I have, but I have never heard "not nothing" for "something".



> Probably not, in Catalan.


 
In catalan it is perfectly possible to say "no pots no anar-hi". And it is not strange to hear it.


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