One question which rumbles in my head already for quite a time and since I catch myself to do this every time I’m (possibly) practicing with @brigitte I’ll put it here.
If one person asks me something in Cymraeg and I tend to just answer the question with yes (or no) I usually catch myself saying just “ja” what is actually Slovene (and some other languages) confirmation word. I know it’s wrong way to say yes in Cymraeg but as I tend to do this “mistake” so many times, would one speaking Cymraeg possibly understand this word as “yes” or in this language it means something totally different (or even nothing at all).
Well, it’s kind of habit sitting in me when speaking other languages then English and possibly Italian and it’s hard to get rid of it though so that’s why this maybe a bit stupid question occured to me in frustration I might even insult someone with such short answer.
(Well, this is all put a bit confused so I hope you can understand what i actually wanted to ask).
I’m sure the Gogs use ‘Ia’ don’t they, which sounds pretty much the same, so I’d say that you’re fine. : -)
And I often just say ‘yes’ (albeit the Southern ‘Ie’) - as do many other people - so I wouldn’t worry about that either. Use whatever comes to mind first. The more you use and hear Cymraeg, the more you’ll notice the ‘Do’ and ‘Oedd’ type responses slipping in naturally.
Gogs is a rather impolite but totally universal southern way of referring to the lovely folk from the north, who are really sweet about it and never moan about us calling them that!! The singular is ‘a gog’ and the adjective ‘gog’!!!)
p.s. I’m not sure if they have a word for us???
You’re ‘hwntws’ - from ‘tu hwnt’, over there/far away…
Nothing rude about ‘gogs’, though - you’ll hear people in the north using it, although probably more as a geographic thing - ‘when are you next coming up to the gogs?’ kind of thing…
‘Ia’ is very common indeed - but my expectation of ‘ja’ is that it would be one syllable, whereas ‘ia’ is a bit more ‘ii-a’ - having said that, I don’t think anyone would be unduly confused for very long by hearing ‘ja’ in the middle of a conversation in Welsh
Um - maybe more over to the north-east - although the shift between ‘ia’ and ‘ie’ isn’t exactly gigantic - but an ‘a’ ending is very, very common in Gwynedd…
Yes it is or if we want to emphasize it then we say it more like short j with extended a - “Jaaaaaaaaaa.”
“Ja” can be the answer in Slovene language:
“Ali si šel tja?” (Did you go there?)
“Ja” (Yes)
“Ja” can also be a kind of question for example if someone calls you by your name wanting something from you.
“Tatjana.”
“Ja(aaa)?” in sense of “Ja, kaj bi rad?” (Yes, what would you want? / What do you want?)
This all of course is used only in colloquial language and mostly among the people who know each-other quite well or have more relaxed relationship. Surely this can’t be used in formal occassions.
I wanted to ask Aran, quoting Mike, "Do you remember a referendum campaign, I think 1997, when a load of posters went up saying “ie” with a big cross. I don’t remember what the ‘no’ campaign’s said!! But I thought the posters were the same all over the country.
Just for the interest (as far as I’m aknowledge) in Jamanaise “ie” means “no” and that ie you’ve written immediatelly reminded me on this.
This made me curious: How many times were you in Slovenia (if this is not a “secret”.
And for another interest: formal “ja” in Slovene language is “da” and can stand totally alone as one word answer to the question.
“No” on the other hand is in both - formal and colloquial Slovene the same - “ne”
For example:
“Ali si bil tam?” (Were you there?)
“Ne.” (No.) or “Ne, nisem.” (No, I wasn’t.)
Well, those of you who might read my posts here on this forum those probably caught me saying “Ah ja …” with some sentences so a bit of explanation.
This particular “phrase” in Slovene language illustrates kind of sigh. When we’re frustrated with something but just realized we just have to face this frustration or even (mostly psychical) pain we many times begin the sentence with “Ah ja …” It’s like we would like to say “Well, that’s how it is and I can do nothing about it.”
Well, so here’s one more usage of our “so beloved” “ja”
