Quote:
Originally Posted by omk3
I would think all languages have a word for yes and no
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Well, my family language, which is Scottish Gaelic, has no words for yes and no.
In Gaelic, you answer a question by using either the affirmative or negative form in the same tense of the specific verb that was used in the question you were asked. For instance, if someone asks you "Am bi thu an siud a-màireach?" ("Will you be there tomorrow?"), you would either say "Bi" ("will be") to say yes, or "Cha bhi" ("won't be") to say no.
(Irish and Manx Gaelic are both part of the same family of languages, and so used to be the same, though in modern times and with increasing numbers of their speakers being native English speakers first, the languages are mutating, and they now tend to use modified forms of the simple "is" and "isn't" to mean "yes" and "no".)