Breakdown of Blaðafulltrúinn talaði ekki við neinn.
ekki
not
tala
to speak
við
with (talking with)
neinn
any (in negative sentences)
blaðafulltrúinn
the press officer
Questions & Answers about Blaðafulltrúinn talaði ekki við neinn.
Why does the sentence use ekki ... neinn instead of enginn (nobody)?
In Icelandic, you can express negation involving a person in two interchangeable ways. You can use the negative adverb ekki combined with the negative polarity pronoun neinn (anybody), as in this sentence: talaði ekki við neinn. Alternatively, you could use the negative pronoun enginn (nobody) on its own: talaði við engan (talked to nobody). Both are grammatically correct and mean the exact same thing.
What case is neinn in here, and what triggers it?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition við governs the accusative case when used with the verb tala (to talk). The masculine accusative form of neinn happens to be identical to its nominative form: neinn. We use the masculine form as the default grammatical gender when referring to a generic, unspecified person.
Why do we use við for the English word 'to' in this context?
While English uses either 'talk to' or 'talk with', Icelandic relies specifically on the phrasal verb að tala við (followed by the accusative case) to express conversing with someone. You cannot translate 'to' directly as til here, as that would sound completely unnatural.
How is the compound word blaðafulltrúinn constructed?
It is made up of blaða (the genitive plural of blað, meaning 'papers' or 'newspapers'), fulltrúi (representative), and the attached definite article -nn (the). Literally meaning 'the representative of newspapers', it is the standard Icelandic term for a press officer or spokesperson.
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