3.786 I say "yes", you say "no".... (97)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Sun, 26 Nov 89 17:31:05 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 786. Sunday, 26 Nov 1989.


(1) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 19:04:34 MST (7 lines)
From: "John Morris, University of Alberta" <JMORRIS@UALTAVM>
Subject: no, yes

(2) Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 09:50:50 EST (12 lines)
From: ABROOK@CARLETON.CA
Subject: FREUD AND NO

(3) Date: Saturday, 25 November 1989 0051-EST (28 lines)
From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn)
Subject: "Yes" and "No"

(4) Date: Sat, 25 Nov 89 14:34 CST (20 lines)
From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM>
Subject: Yes and No

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 89 19:04:34 MST
From: "John Morris, University of Alberta" <JMORRIS@UALTAVM>
Subject: no, yes

Michael Hawley asks if other languages appear to have fewer "yeses"
than "noes." Latin has no word for "yes." "Ita" (thus) stands for "yes"
in most cases.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 89 09:50:50 EST
From: ABROOK@CARLETON.CA
Subject: FREUD AND NO

The title of the paper by Freud to which Kessler refers is Negation, he
wrote it in 1925, and it is in Vol. 19 of the Standard Edition, pp.235-
242. I might also say that though the paper is the darling of certain
groups in psychoanalysis, I do not find it one of Freud's more convin-
cing pieces of work. The negation the unconscious knows nothing of ought
to be denial of wishes, not the semantic marker for negation -- which of
course can be used to say yes (`So you don't want to kill your Father and
marry your Mother?' `No, no, that's exactly what I'd like to do.').
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------33----
Date: Saturday, 25 November 1989 0051-EST
From: TREAT@PENNDRLS (Jay Treat, Religious Studies, Penn)
Subject: "Yes" and "No"

All participants in the recent discussion regarding "yes" and
"no" in the King James Bible could profit from reading the entry
on "yes" in the Oxford English Dictionary. (Unable to afford the
new OED, I'm still using the older OED.) It points out that the
King James Version preserves the earlier English distinction
between "yes" (used to answer a question involving a negative)
and "yea" (used to answer a question not involving a negative).

In addition to the 4 instances of "yes" in the King James
Version, therefore, one will find also quite a few instances of
"yea," to say nothing of other translations of the Greek NAI
(such as "verily") or of the Hebrew KEN. The statistical
comparison of "yes" and "no" therefore ignored passages
such as "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for
whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil" (Matthew 5:36).

I submit that the comparison of the frequencies of "yes" and "no"
is next to meaningless. (The opposite of a sentence with "no" in
it is ordinarily a sentence without a negative marker.)

All those in favor of tabling the discussion, signify by saying,
"Aye."

Jay C. Treat, Religious Studies, Penn
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------26----
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 89 14:34 CST
From: Robin Smith <RSMITH@KSUVM>
Subject: Yes and No

The recent discussion of the relative frequencies of 'yes' and 'no' in
the Bible (or anywhere else) is, I think, misguided. The English word
'no' functions grammatically as a negative adverb ('There are no more
apples') or adjective ('No dogs eat grass'); 'yes,' by contrast, has
only the function of serving as the affirmative reply to a question.
And as for the claim about an alleged preponderance of prohibitions over
positive exhortations, you wouldn't find out about that by looking for
'no' anyway ('not' is the negating particle in English imperatives). In
any event, affirmative sentences (including commands) have no
'affirmation sign' in them to mark them (we don't say 'I did yes go to
town' or 'Thou shalt yes do X').

It might be interesting to try a comparable study for languages which
have special words used both for affirmative and negative answers
(aren't 'ochi' and 'nai' like this in modern Greek? 'oui' and 'non' in
French come close.)