Where does “pois não” come from?

pois não (Portuguese) comes from Portuguese pois, from Old Occitan pois, from Latin postius, from Latin postea, from Latin post, from Old Latin poste.

pois não (Portuguese): Can I help you? used when attending customers

Definitions

  1. Can I help you? used when attending customers

Ancestry of “pois não”, step by step

pois não traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Portuguese pois

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Portuguesepoisso; then; emphasises a yes-or-no answer or an...
2Old Occitanpoisthen
3Latinpostiusafterwards, afterward
4Latinposteaafterwards, hereafter, thereafter; next, then
5Latinpostbehind; after, since, besides, except; behind,...
6Old Latinposte

via Portuguese não

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Portuguesenãonot; do not; have not; non-; isn't it? right?
2Old Occitannon
3Latinnōnnot
4Old Latinnoenum
5Proto-Indo-Europeanóynosone; single
Every word from Old Latin posteEvery word from Latin postEvery word from Latin postea