For Fluent Speakers Of Irish

[JohnJoePo]

You know where the doras is

Bualadh bos

 

[Wumble]

Linguistic acrobatics aside, we have words for yes and no.

We use words to imply yes or no, but Irish has no definite "yes" or "no" words.

 

[Spank The Donkey]

We use words to imply yes or no, but Irish has no definite "yes" or "no" words.

No, we use words to say yes and no, the semantics behind them is irrelevant as the meaning is clear.

Ba mhaith leat ull?
Nil.

Job done!

 

[Wumble]

No, we use words to say yes and no, the semantics behind them is irrelevant as the meaning is clear.



Job done!

It would be "an maith leat" and "ní mhaith liom".

If the case was that then in the English ought be we saying all thing we want every time for meaning putting across but hey, no is problem thing as knowing what is meant do we all.

 

[Spank The Donkey]

If the case was that then in the English ought be we saying all thing we want every time for meaning putting across but hey, no is problem thing as knowing what is meant do we all.

English is a different language with different syntax and semantics. What you get away with in one doesn't necessarily translate to the other.

To say "language x doesn't have a word for z" is meaningless when the EXACT same sentiment can be expressed in a single word.

 

[D'oriel]

Sentiment is not a word.

The OP was specifically about words.

 

[Wumble]

English is a different language with different syntax and semantics. What you get away with in one doesn't necessarily translate to the other.

To say "language x doesn't have a word for z" is meaningless when the EXACT same sentiment can be expressed in a single word.

It can't. There is no single word for yes in Irish, there is no single word for no in Irish. You can't get away with using "is" or "isn't" for yes or no. It's very much the same as fouling up a sentence in English and relying on the reader or the listener to do a little mental contortion to figure out what you mean. Just because it's intelligible doesn't make it correct.

 

[Spank The Donkey]

Sentiment is not a word.

The OP was specifically about words.

Read the OP again

which do not possess vocabulary for yes and no

Irish most definitely has a vocabulary for yes and no as these are sentiments that can be expressed using its vocabulary.

 

[D'oriel]

Fair enough, I thought she wrote 'words'.

Vocabulary, yes, we certainly have that.

 

[Lauda]

Fair enough, I thought she wrote 'words'.

Vocabulary, yes, we certainly have that.

Word