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#Post#: 12532--------------------------------------------------
Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Nikola Date: February 14, 2019, 7:40 am
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How do you talk about fear and worry in your language?
In Czech, all verb phrases related to fear (including ones that
would translate as being frightened or terrified) can be used to
express worry as well.
"Bojím se tmy." ------- "Bojím se, že mi nezavolá."
"I'm afraid/scared of the dark." ------- "I worry he won't call
me."
"Mám strach ze tmy."------- "Mám strach, že mi nezavolá."
"I (have) fear (of) the dark" ------- "I (have) fear/I worry he
won't call me."
There are words you can use when you're just worried (mám obavy,
obávám se) but they're interchangeable with the expressions
above.
I can't think of any verb that would only refer to being scared.
There are adjectives (vystrašený, vyděšený, polekaný) but
no verbs.
How is it in languages you know?
#Post#: 12556--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Kseniia Date: February 15, 2019, 12:40 am
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It's always so nice to read your posts about Czech, Nikola
(interestingly, in written form it's even easier for me than
Polish).
As for Russian, we can say,
Я боюсь
темноты -------
Боюсь, он
мне не
позвонит.
I'm scared of the dark ------- I worry he won't call me
Almost the same as in Czech, but you have to add a personal
pronoun if you're talking about something that actually scares
you (or someone else), while it's optional in the "I'm afraid
that..." sentences.
There is, however, a construction that refers only to being
scared:
Мальчик
испугался
собаки.
The boy got scared of the dog.
...the only thing is that the verb
испугатьс&
#1103;
cannot be used in the present tense nowadays.
You can also say "Мне
страшно..." ("I'm
scared...", lit. "to me it's scary...") - it's not
interchangeable with the expressions that refer to being
worried: you can say, for example, "Мне
страшно
представи&
#1090;ь,
что может
случиться"
(~"I'm scared to imagine what might happen"). But, strictly
speaking, it's not a verb, so I suppose it doesn't count.
#Post#: 12560--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Alharacas Date: February 15, 2019, 4:26 am
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It's more or less the same in German as in English:
There's fürchten vs. befürchten:
Ich fürchte mich vor Spinnen = I'm afraid of Spiders (befürchten
wouldn't work here)
Ich fürchte/befürchte, es wird regnen = I'm afraid it might rain
Angst haben and sich ängstigen
Ich habe Angst vor Spinnen, Ich ängstige mich vor Spinnen
Ich habe Angst, daß es regnet OR es könnte regnen
There are a few verbs, or rather several versions of one and the
same verb, which exclusively indicate stark, naked fear:
(sich) grauen, grausen, graulen
However, they're either obsolete or only used colloquially.
#Post#: 12561--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Coligno Date: February 15, 2019, 4:38 am
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It's always interesting to see how different languages divide up
reality in different ways.
In Irish, the spectrum of fear-worry is essentially covered by
three terms: eagla, imní and buairt.
Eagla means "fear": Tá eagla orm roimh rud = "I am afraid of
something" (lit. "there-is fear on-me before a-thing"), but it
doesn't necessarily have to be very great fear (there are other
more specific words for that).
(There's also the word faitíos, whose basic meaning is
"timidity", but which is also used to mean "fear" in some
places: Tá faitíos orm faoi rud = "I'm fearful of something"
(lit. "there-is timidity on-me under a-thing"))
Imní means "anxiety, concern": Tá imní orm faoi rud = "I am
anxious/concerned about something" (lit. "there-is anxiety on-me
under a-thing").
Buairt means "sorrow, vexation": Cuireann rud buairt orm or
Déanann rud buairt dom = "Something is
worrying/bothering/troubling me" (lit. "puts a-thing vexation
on-me", "does a-thing vexation to-me").
The difference between imní and buairt is very subtle, but I
would say, if anything, imní is perhaps a bit more visceral,
though in most cases you could use them interchangeably
nowadays.
#Post#: 12563--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Nikola Date: February 15, 2019, 8:42 am
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Thank you everyone, I'm loving this. I feel like those Russian
verbs are reflexive but I don't know Russian well enough to be
sure, Kseniia? The Czech bát se is reflexive, so is sich
fürchten by the looks of it. To scare oneself. I am scaring
myself. It's true when you think about it, you are allowing
yourself to be scared of something.
@Kseniia
The word
испугался
reminded me that we have vyděsit, it implies intense fear,
but like in "to scare", the subject would be the thing that is
scary:
Pes vyděsil kluka rather than Kluk se vyděsil
psa.
The latter would be understood but wouldn't sound right, even
though you can say Kluk se vyděsil (The boy got scared).
It's ok without an object.
Děsit, which is the imperfective "sibling" of vyděsit,
could, again, be used with something that worries you:
1. Děsí mě, že bych mohl přijít o práci.
It's often used with představa (idea, image): 2. Děsí
mě představa, že bych mohl přijít o práci.
1. I worry (a lot) that I could lose my job. 2. I dread the idea
of losing my job.
@Coligno
"there-is fear on-me before a-thing" I find this so hilarious I
might start using it in real life. Are you allowed to move those
words around or is the word order completely inflexible?
#Post#: 12565--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Kseniia Date: February 15, 2019, 9:21 am
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You're absolutely right, Nikola, the verbs are reflexive (and I
agree that it is interesting). I think you can easily recognise
the infinitive form of the verb —
бояться (boyat's'a) —
we just don't separate "reflexive" suffixes from verbs.
Ah, I see. Seems like vyděsit indeed can be translated as
испугать (to
scare). I think the difference is that we have a reflexive form
for it
(испугатьс
я),
and it doesn't sound wrong to our ears :)
[quote author=Nikola link=topic=853.msg12563#msg12563
date=1550241763]
"there-is fear on-me before a-thing" I find this so hilarious I
might start using it in real life.
[/quote]
Wait, don't you have something similar in Czech? For example, in
Russian we can say,
У меня
(есть) к
этому
слабость.
which means
I've got a weakness for it. (lit. "at me (there-is) towards it
weakness"). Don't you have the same in Czech? [s]If not,
why??[/s]
#Post#: 12568--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Nikola Date: February 15, 2019, 11:58 am
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With things like weakness, we tend to say we have it.
Mám slabost pro čokoládu. (You probably understand that
one.)
Ve mně je slabost pro čokoládu would be non-standard,
acceptable in a poem, maybe.
The only word I can think of off the top of my head is tendence
(tendency), especially if you're talking about someone else.
Je u něj tendence přehánět. (literally: Is by him
tendency exaggerate.)
But most people would still say: Má tendenci přehánět.
#Post#: 12572--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Kseniia Date: February 15, 2019, 12:14 pm
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I see, thank you, Nikola. So it's more like in Polish with the
verb mieć. What a shame I don't know other Slavic languages
well enough to compare all these things! Anyway, thanks very
much for the examples!
#Post#: 12573--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Nikola Date: February 15, 2019, 12:40 pm
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Kseniia, Russian is still a big mystery to me so we can carry on
comparing various phrases in the future.
#Post#: 12583--------------------------------------------------
Re: Are You Scared, Worried or Both?
By: Coligno Date: February 16, 2019, 1:03 am
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@Nikola, if learn you Irish, comes with-you speak like that the
time on length if-it-is good with-you, not may-be reluctance
on-you!
The word order is quite rigid, but you can move words to the
beginning of the sentence to emphasise them (and then you need
to adjust the grammar accordingly).
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