Re: Breton (WAS: first try at conlanging)

On Tue, 8 Jan 2002 20:26:29 EST Elliott Lash <AL260@...> writes:
> But..surely 'yes' is a basic vocabulary member?
-

Not necessarily - Biblical Hebrew, as well as one of the languages
mentioned in this thread, lack "yes", and just respond in the affirmative
by repeating the relevant part of the question.
For example, in the Scroll of Ruth, there's a conversation between Bo`az
and the Elders that goes something like:

B: `eidim?
([are you] witnesses?)
tE: `eidim.
([we are] witnesses.)

The word _kein_ for "yes" is a later development - i think it may come
from the word for "such" or "like that" but i always mix up _kein_ and
_kakh_, they look very similar.

If i remember correctly, Latin did the same thing, which is why you have
the languages of "si", "oc", etc. where different Romance languages
developed different ways of saying "yes" without being repetitive.

-Stephen (Steg)
 "you are strange and off-putting"
     ~ dracula to xander, in a _buffy_ episode

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