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From: pardoej@lonnds.ml.com (Julian Pardoe LADS LDN X1428)
Subject: Re: Yes or No?
Message-ID: <DF7vJo.4n4@tigadmin.ml.com>
Sender: usenet@tigadmin.ml.com (News Account)
Reply-To: pardoej@lonnds.ml.com
Organization: Merrill Lynch Europe
References: <43k3qu$fck@dove.nist.gov>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 18:33:24 GMT
Lines: 33

-->> . : jon@amito (Jonathan Ryshpan) wrote:
-->> . : >     This theory  does not have much support.
-->> . : >     NO.
-->> . : >     <Do I mean NO it doesn't, or NO I don't agree with you.>

I have often noticed confusion arise between native speakers of English
and others when "yes" or "no" is used to answer a negative question.
Setting aside the issue of languages that have a different form of "yes"
for use in such situations, I get the feeling that in almost every language
except English "no" clearly means "the statement that the non-interrogative
form of your question makes is false" and "yes" means that it is true.

Thus in answer to "Aren't you pleased?"
   "no"  means "The statement `I am not pleased' is false"  
   "yes" means "The statement `I am not pleased' is true"

In English "no" seems to mean "the negated form of the statement is true" and
yes "the non-negated form of the statement is true", so
   "no"  means "The statement `I am not pleased' is true"
   "yes" means "The statement `I am     pleased' is true"

So in these circumstances "yes" and "no" have the opposite meaning in
English to the one they have in ``every other'' language.

So the answer to the orginal question is that "NO" means
   "NO it doesn't" in English
   "NO, I don't agree with you" in any other language

Are there varieties of English where these meanings are reversed?

-- jP --


