海角大神

鈥淒o I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)鈥�

There鈥檚 nothing like a few lines from Walt Whitman to try to explain the 鈥測eah, no鈥� phenomenon touched on last week in this space.

Maybe you鈥檝e heard it, too.

It鈥檚 perhaps most noticeable when you鈥檙e overhearing half of a telephone conversation. After the initial pleasantries, the caller asks the question that has prompted the call, and the callee responds with an initial 鈥測eah, no.鈥�

This may leave the eavesdropping bystander thinking, 鈥淵eah? No? Well, which is it?鈥� It may be both. It may correspond to 鈥淵eah, I hear you on this topic, but no, I haven鈥檛 solved the problem yet, or whatever. Let me explain.鈥�

Several posters at the do-it-yourself lexicon Urban Dictionary are not happy with 鈥測eah, no.鈥� They define it variously as an intensifier for a flat-out 鈥渘o,鈥� or simply as a verbal tic: a variant of 鈥渦m, ah.鈥�

Some sources point to Australia as the source of the phrase.

The Age of Melbourne (a great newspaper name, by the way) reported in 2004 on the research of two Monash University linguists who produced a paper titled 鈥淵eah-no he鈥檚 a good kid: A discourse analysis of yeah-no in Australian English.鈥�

鈥淟ike it or loathe it, linguists say 鈥榶eah no鈥� is a surprisingly effective communication tool,鈥� The Age wrote, going on to quote Kate Burridge, linguistics chair at Monash and one of the authors: 鈥淎ll of these little markers have a very important role in conversation. They have roles in showing the relationship between speaker and hearer and this one has a linking function as well.鈥�

Other languages apparently have similar phrases. Germans say 鈥渏a nein.鈥� And South Africans say 鈥測a nay.鈥�

One intriguing thought is that 鈥測eah, no鈥� is a holdover from the days when English used what linguists call a 鈥渇our-form system鈥� of affirmation and negation.

If you remember your high school French, you know that while non means 鈥渘o,鈥� and oui mean 鈥測es,鈥� there鈥檚 a third word, si, used for 鈥測es鈥� in response to a question framed negatively. (鈥淭u ne viens pas?鈥� 鈥淪i, j鈥檃rrive.鈥� You aren鈥檛 coming? Yes, I鈥檒l be right there.)

Well, there was a time when English had not two, not three, but four words for 鈥測es鈥� and 鈥渘o鈥�: yea and nay for questions in the affirmative, and yes and no for 鈥渘egative鈥� questions. It鈥檚 interesting that the 鈥渘egative鈥� forms are the ones that remain.

It may be, though, that 鈥測eah, no鈥� and suchlike arise when a given question may be positive or negative grammatically but with an underlying emotional tone that is the reverse.聽

鈥淎re you coming with us?鈥� is positively framed, but the (unasked) question behind it may be negative: 鈥淵ou aren鈥檛 going to miss another one of our children鈥檚 piano recitals, are you?鈥� In which case the right answer may indeed be, 鈥淵eah, no 鈥� I wouldn鈥檛 miss this for the world.鈥�