Latin had no word for yes, so the various Romance languages adapted ‘hoc ille’ o...

webreac · on Aug 5, 2019

I thought it was volo (I want) or nolo (I do not want) that was used for yes or no.

OJFord · on Aug 5, 2019

I thought it was repetition of the verb, i.e. I agree with you, but only if the question was 'do you want ...'.

I think it's the same in Mandarin, but the question structure also includes both forms, e.g. 'this cake you want not want?'--'want'.

empath75 · on Aug 5, 2019

I obviously didn't mean that the Romans had no way to assert agreement with something. I said they didn't have a word that means 'yes'.

OJFord · on Aug 5, 2019

Understood, and agreed.

Perhaps I misread though, I thought you were saying the verb 'want' is used in all cases, I was just saying my understanding is that it would be used when that was the verb in the question, but for 'do you go' similarly 'go' is used in the answer.