Yes and no

Yes and no are one of several pairs of words used to express the affirmative and the negative, respectively, in several modern languages including English.

English originally used a four-form system up to and including Early Middle English but Modern English has reduced this to a two-form system consisting of just 'yes' and 'no'. Some languages do not answer yes–no questions with single words meaning 'yes' or 'no'. Welsh and Finnish are among several languages that typically employ echo answers (repeating the verb with either an affirmative or negative form) rather than using words for 'yes' and 'no', though both languages do also have words broadly similar to 'yes' and 'no'. Other languages have systems named two-form, three-form, and four-form systems, depending on how many words for yes and no they employ. Some languages, such as Latin, have no yes-no word systems.

The words yes and no are not easily classified into any of the eight conventional parts of speech. Although sometimes classified as interjections, they do not qualify as such, and they are not adverbs. They are sometimes classified as a part of speech in their own right, sentence words, word sentences, or pro-sentences, although that category contains more than yes and no and not all linguists include them in their lists of sentence words. Sentences consisting solely of one of these two words are classified as minor sentences.

Yes and no (disambiguation)

Yes and no is a system for expressing affirmative and negative in the English language.

Yes and no may also refer to:

Games

Books

Music

Songs

See also

Sic et Non

Sic et Non, an early scholastic text whose title translates from Medieval Latin as "Yes and No", was written by Pierre Abélard. In the work, Abélard juxtaposes apparently contradictory quotations from the Church Fathers on many of the traditional topics of Christian theology. In the Prologue, Abélard outlines rules for reconciling these contradictions, the most important of which is noting the multiple significations of a single word. However, Abélard does not himself apply these rules in the body of the Sic et non, which has led scholars to conclude that the work was meant as an exercise book for students in applying dialectic (logic) to theology.

In Sic et Non, Abelard presents 158 questions that present a theological assertion and allows its negation.

The first five questions are: