>> I've heard that gaelic and latin for example don't have a real word for "yes", but instead the answer repeated the affirmative form of the verb or similar.

>> I've heard that gaelic and latin for example don't have a real word for "yes", but instead the answer repeated the affirmative form of the verb or similar. That is commonly used the same way in Chinese (at least on the Pimsleur beginner lessons). The answer to 'do you want' is 'want' or 'don't want'. I asked a native Chinese speaker if they have a way to say yes and no without referring to the action involved, and he said that they do. I have notice that people who have gender-neutral pronouns have a lot of trouble mixing up 'he' and 'she' in English.