Sp. 'nada' & 'nadie' (nothing, nobody), are from L. for 'born' (cf Eng. 'natal'). 'Non res nata' & 'non homines nati' (no thing/person created) became set phrases to the point that the negatives were dropped but the adjectives retained the negative sense.
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This is similar to how spoken French is starting to drop the 'ne' from 'ne ... pas' (from 'not ... a step', originally used with motion verbs). Technically the negative part of the construction is no longer there, but the negative sense is preserved.
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Replying to @peidran
At least they both start with n so they still look like negatives. (Also of note: both Spanish & Portuguese use nada, and both use alguién/alguém, but where Spanish went with nadie, Portuguese opted for the more logical ninguém.)
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Replying to @asbreuer
Huh. Spanish also has ningún, and (I think?) uses it sometimes in place of nadie.
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Replying to @peidran
Ah, even more wrinkles! Ningún/ ningunx is indeed synonymous with nadie (at least in certain constructions, it seems), but despite appearances ningún and ninguém aren't cognates: Pt. equiv is nenhum: nec unum (not even one) vs nec quem (none whom).
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Get straight out.
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