Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!godot.cc.duq.edu!newsgate.duke.edu!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!howland.reston.ans.net!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!ncar!uchinews!deb5
From: deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: Origin of Uh-huh?
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: ellis-nfs.uchicago.edu
Message-ID: <DrqotL.M7o@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
Organization: The University of Chicago
References: <Z7Jvh7u.stgriffin@delphi.com> <4nkem9$rg5@sjx-ixn6.ix.netcom.com> <4nq40s$9ts@ss1.cam.nist.gov>
Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 05:05:45 GMT
Lines: 43

In article <4nq40s$9ts@ss1.cam.nist.gov>,
John E Koontz <koontz@cam.nist.gov> wrote:
>In article <4nkem9$rg5@sjx-ixn6.ix.netcom.com>, jackwrgt@ix.netcom.com(Jack Wright ) writes:
>|> In <Z7Jvh7u.stgriffin@delphi.com> Steve Griffin <stgriffin@delphi.com>
>|> writes: 
>|> >
>|> >Is there anyone on the net who can comment as to the origin of the
>|> habit we
>|> >English-speaking Americans have of saying "uh-huh" in the affirmative
>|> and
>|> >"uhnt-uh" in the negative? Is it done in other English speaking
>|> countries?
>|> >Has any etymology been done on this?

>|>   I've seen these usually spelled "uh-huh" <affirmative> and "huh-uh"  
>|> <negative>. I have read an argument somewhere that they came into our
>|> American form of English from the Niger-Congo language Wolof. ...
>
>I've been told that these forms are used, e.g., in Britain, but the 
>source was non-technical, and I don't know their age and distribution 
>in English.  The OED would be an obvious place to start, but I haven't
>checked.  My desktop Webster's isn't illuminating.  

	I didn't find either word in the OED, not under any spelling I
could devise.  "uh" and "huh" are listed separately, however.

>No need to appeal to Wolof.  Similar forms are widely used in Native
>American languages.  For example, Omaha-Ponca a~'ha" and a~ha~ 'yes',
>and a~kka'=z^i (inflected, e.g., a~kka'=maz^i 'no for me') 'no'.

	And then there's Korean <uN>, the more informal alternative
to <yey>/<ney>.

>My suspicion, however, is that that affirmative and negative grunts
>like these are more or less universal, like mama and papa words.

	Uh-huh!


-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
