A documentary on TV about doing business in foreign countries has just had someone say, "The word for 'no' in Vietnamese, doesn't exist. There is no word for no."
That would make life rather awkward, wouldn't it.

No

Classical Latin did not have words for either yes or no, and they went on to conquer a large part of their known world.

Of course I have no idea if this site is correct, but it has 2 words in Vietnamese for "no": Không and Thưa không

On the other hand, the author has some odd English inclusions, which make me question the site. He/she has two words from Michigan slang for "no": nah and no way. Then there is naw in Texan (?) English

quote:

He/she has two words from Michigan slang for "no": nah and no way. Then there is naw in Texan (?) English

Aren't those used in that way in Michigan/Texas, Kalleh? Actually, I'd have thought that nah and no way were much more widely-spread than that. No way is really only an emphatic form of no. Or do you mean that nah and naw are just variant pronunciations of no and not really slang as such?

They are much more widespread than in Texas and Michigan, arnie, and that's why I question the whole site. I wasn't clear when I said "odd English inclusions;" I meant odd because those words are not just used in Texas or Michigan. I also thought it funny to call it "Texan English." Does each state have it's own English?

[edited for typo]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

Yes, I agree. I think it might have been better if she'd left out English to English "translations", apart perhaps for Old and Middle English. I also looked up "yes", and she gives "ya" as "Texan". No special Michigan yes-words are given. Maybe she has Texan and/or Michigan roots so feels safer mentioning them?

On the other hand, she seems to be right about the word no in Vietnamese. Link and Link (though perhaps not with the latter link)