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Re: [romconlang] Origin of words for "yes"



Mark J. Reed scripsit:

> It seems as if most languages have innovated a yes-word over time; do
> you know of any modern natively-spoken language which lacks one?

The modern Celtic languages utterly lack any words for "yes" or "no";
repeating the verb with or without a negation particle is used instead.
Lojban has a similar strategy, but also has a repeat-the-last-sentence
particle that is commonly used, with or without negation.

Note also that languages have different strategies when the question
contains a negation element:

1) English-style: ignore the negation element
2) Russian-style: accept the negation element ("Yes, I didn't" and "no, I did")
3) German-style: use the ordinary no-word, but a special yes-word.

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