# "I don't speak..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399 "2012-02-01T07:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sandwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Sandwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwood)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/81 "2012-02-06T20:53:08Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > For Mandarin, it will sound like this: > > Wo bu jiang tzong wen Hàn​yǔ ​pīn​yīn transliteration: Wǒ bù jiǎng zhōngwén. However (and leaving aside the fact that this only mentions “Chinese language” but not whether it’s Mandarin or something else), wouldn’t it be better to use hànyǔ 汉语 instead of zhōngwén 中文 in a sentence like that? As far as I can tell, zhōngwén 中文 is the preferred word when one refers to the Chinese language in general but also especially in written form, so it seems kind of not-quite-right in a context where it’s about speaking (讲) the language. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/82 "2012-02-07T02:43:15Z")
Thai: For men: “Phom phut phasaa Thai mai ben.” For women: “Dichan [or Chan, for short] phut phasaa Thai mai ben.” (“Ph” is the hard P sound. I’m not including tonal accents here.) There are some variations, but that’s basically it. The women’s version is this: ฉันพูดไทยไม่เป็น. On a very few occasions, I’ve heard non-gay men use “dichan” or “chan” for “I” or “me,” but that’s usually just for ladies. ---
**Author:** ![yohan\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yohan_go/32/3620_2.png) [@yohan\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yohan_go)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/83 "2012-02-07T09:59:22Z")
“Ne govorim slovensko.” Slovenian, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/84 "2012-02-07T16:28:22Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > “I do not speak Latin” is _Latine non loquor_. Without native speakers, classicists often appeal to the remaining literature, and we have a pretty clear example from Livy (XL.43), where between the 2nd and 3rd Macedonian wars he notes that: _Cumanis eo anno petentibus permissum, ut publice Latine loquerentur et praeconibus Latine vendendi ius esset._ - “In that same year the citizens of Cumae sought the right to _speak Latin_ in matters of law and commerce.” Yeah, generally what I see in online chats in Latin for ‘to speak a language’ is the adverbial form of the language name in -ē plus either _loquī_ or _scīre_. [Capellānus](http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Can-Fun-Facetiae-Latinae/dp/0285633945/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328631690&sr=8-1) has _linguā Latīnā loquī_, citing [Nepos](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0136%3Alife%3Dmilt.%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D2) (macrons mine – it couldn’t be accusative). ---
**Author:** ![Kamrusepas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@Kamrusepas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamrusepas)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/85 "2012-02-07T17:53:00Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Finnish _[En puhua sumoalainen]._ Thanks, this gave me quite a laugh 😃 But yeah, what hibernicus said (“en puhu suomea” is correct). ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/86 "2012-02-08T07:54:32Z")
> [@Kamrusepas](#): > > Thanks, this gave me quite a laugh 😃 > > But yeah, what hibernicus said (“en puhu suomea” is correct). Yeah? What was so funny about what **I** posted? 😕 Incidentally, I really would like to have the sentences I mentioned in my February 5th PM posting answered, regardless of the Finns’ outlook on the Russians… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/87 "2012-02-08T16:03:03Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > With Russian, I also wanted to find out how to say “You clumsy fool!” and “Frank [as in “Sinatra”], what are _you_ doing here?” Thanks. 🙂 All right, I’ll get the ball rolling. My Russian isn’t great, so this will want correcting. “неуклюжий дурак!” (ne-oo-klyoo-zhee doo-rahk) = Clumsy fool! That said, I think it’s much more natural in Russian just to say “Дурак!” “Франк, что ты здесь?” (Frank, shto tы zdyess, with ы that distinctively Russian unrounded ü). You could easily and gramatically say “Франк, что ты здесь делаешь?” (adding dyelayesh), which is literally “Frank, what are you doing here,” but I think the latter is “what is it that you are doing” and the former is more “why are you here?” Of course, in Russian, you’d probably address Frank by either his nickname or his name and patronymic, depending on how well you knew him, and you might need the formal “you.” ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/88 "2012-02-09T06:31:35Z")
I have been a soldier all my life (quoting Civil War General James Longstreet). So I have found it much more useful to be able to say: “I surrender” in many languages. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/89 "2012-02-09T08:28:36Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > […] > Of course, in Russian, you’d probably address Frank by either his nickname or his name and patronymic, depending on how well you knew him, and you might need the formal “you.” Well, I don’t know if any Soviets would have addressed Ol’ Blue Eyes as Chairman of the Board (let alone as Ol’ Blue Eyes), and they might not know his father’s name, so they would not address him as Francis Antonio; and how would the question come out with _Vy_ instead of _ty?_ Also, I’ve been puzzled as to what the real sound of a consonant followed by the soft sound _(myakiiznak)_ would be; it seems hard to add consonantal _y_ to a “sh” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/90 "2012-02-09T12:03:20Z")
The soft sign—palatalization—is not the addition of a consonantal y sound. It’s a manner of articulating a single consonant with the top surface of the middle of the tongue raised toward the hard palate. A sh sound could be articulated either with or without it, like in Polish spelling which shows the difference between retroflex sz and palatal ś. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/91 "2012-02-09T13:12:37Z")
> [@T.Slothrop](#): > > I have been a soldier all my life (quoting Civil War General James Longstreet). So I have found it much more useful to be able to say: “I surrender” in many languages. Capital ! That would be “Je me rends” in French. The “-ds” is silent so it’s pronounced something like “Juh muh ran”. “Don’t shoot” would be “Ne tirez pas” (nuh tirey pah) Latin would be “Succumbo” I think. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/92 "2012-02-10T23:16:47Z")
[Oh, my God! There’s an axe in my head!](http://web.mit.edu/tarvizo/Public/axe_in_my_head.txt) ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/93 "2012-02-11T00:15:21Z")
Tagalog: “Hindi ako nagsasalita ng tagalog”. Since you said you want to say this, “ng” sounds like a short “noong”, and hindi is prounced more like “hin-day”. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/94 "2012-02-11T02:33:54Z")
A long list of "i dont understand"s, with a good number of languages I’ve never heard of, is > **[Translations of I understand in many languages](https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/understand.htm)** > > How to express your comprehension in numerous languages, with recordings for some of them. This one claims to have translations of “I don’t understand” in “over 255 languages.” [http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/understa.htm](http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/understa.htm) Of course, the translations of the Dopers are better. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/95 "2012-02-11T05:08:30Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > If you want to know more than you possibly thought possible to know about this question, I direct you to this 17-page paper: > [可能動詞の助詞に関する一考察](http://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/limedio/dlam/M18/M180943/2.pdf) (big pdf!) Thank you for that post! Benkyou ni narimashita~ (I learned a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/96 "2012-02-11T06:07:55Z")
“I don’t understand” in American Sign Language (ASL): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZjP8KuibfSQ/maxresdefault.jpg "'don't understand' in American Sign Language") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjP8KuibfSQ) Wiktionary has a longish list of “I don’t speak…” in different languages: [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:I\_don’t\_speak/full](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:I_don't_speak/full) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/97 "2012-02-11T07:04:37Z")
Nepali: ma nepali boldina. Bengali: ami bangla jani na. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/98 "2012-02-11T22:34:36Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > [Oh, my God! There’s an axe in my head!](http://web.mit.edu/tarvizo/Public/axe_in_my_head.txt) Sadly, the Irish example is wrong: \*Ta’ tua sa mo cheann. -\> “Tá tua _i_ mo cheann” ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/99 "2012-02-11T22:43:26Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Wiktionary has a longish list of “I don’t speak…” in different languages: > [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:I\_don’t\_speak/full](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:I_don't_speak/full) > [@](#): > > Japanese: 私は日本語を話せません (ja) (watashi wa Nihongo o hanasemasen) ::Beats head on table:: I give up. Here, pass me that 17-page document. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399/100 "2012-02-11T22:47:19Z")
I only had highschool japanese. What is the difference between “hanaSHImasen” and “hanaSEmasen”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-speak/611399.md?page=6)