2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
The origins of 'yes' and 'no'
| Project/Area Number |
19K00698
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 02080:English linguistics-related
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| Research Institution | Fukuoka University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | yes / no / language / vocalisation / gesture / East Anglia / New England / multimodal |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This research (1) examined the origins and forms of yes and no in dialect in England and America; and (2) investigated a fundamental and probably very old part of human language, namely why we communicate yes and no trimodally; with language, vocalisation and gesture. In the first part of my research, I examined two forms of yes and no in British English previously unknown to the academic literature, jearse and dow. These forms of yes and no are also used in Northeast America. I gathered new data on jearse/jess and dow in research in New England. I am currently in the process of finalising these findings for publication. In the second part of my research, I examined the following questions: Why are yes and no trimodal? And what can yes and no tell us about the origins of human communication and language? I am completing a second forthcoming paper on yes and no. It will put forward a hypothesis on the origins of yes and no in human language.
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| Free Research Field |
Linguistics, Dialectology, Origin of language
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
My research is scientifically and socially significant as it revealed forms of 'yes' and 'no' previously unknown to most scholars, although spoken across Eastern England and America. It is further significant as it will put forward a theory of the origin of 'yes' and 'no' common to all humans.
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