[sumo] [OT] Name Spelling/Pronunciation

[Barbara]

Doreen Simmons wrote:
> This really had me guessing at first -- since there isn't a Japanese 
> word for 'no' -- any more than there is a word for 'yes.' What it does 
> have is a word 'iie' which is sometimes used where we would use 'no' -- 
> but often has other implications, as Joe has noticed. In response to an 
> invitation, for instance, it can mean 'not likely' or 'in your dreams, 
> pal.' Likewise the word 'hai' can lead to great confusion if we use it 
> as 'yes'. This works in reverse, of course.  If a Japanese person asks 


But still ... "iie" and "hai" function as no and yes, in proper 
contexts.  That is, they are taken to mean no and yes.  Then there are 
more unambiguous ways, like saying "Sono tori" or "Makoto desu" for yes. 
In English "yes" has no shades of meaning when spoken alone.  But you 
can add doubt by saying "yes but...". Both languages have wide ranges of 
affirmation or negation, I think, but different ways of expressing those 
ranges.  The problem is an artifact of trying to do word-for-word 
translation of something which is better translated sentence-for-sentence.

Whats fun is you can ask a question in the two languages which one 
affirms with "yes" in one case and "no" in the other.  Do you disagree? :-)

Barbara Murasakihana