# Sīc meaning "yes"



## purasbabosadas

Is "sīc" used as "yes" when answering a question common in Classical Latin?


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## Snodv

I cannot answer the question of frequency, but Cassell's cites _sic est, "_it is so,_" _and says it was used _in_ affirmative answers, although it does not reveal whether it was commonly used _as_ the affirmative answer.  However, Charlton Lewis tells us that _sic_ was used alone as "yes" colloquially.  He cites Terence, but I would say Terence is pre-classical.  And of course we know that _sic_ eventually became Spanish _sí _(among others)--so it had to survive through the classical period to become part of the Romance languages.


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## Scholiast

saluete amici!


Snodv said:


> Charlton Lewis tells us that _sic_ was used alone as "yes" colloquially. He cites Terence, but I would say Terence is pre-classical.


Terence (and relevant here too is Plautus, to a lesser extent also Petronius and Apuleius) give us the best 'literary' evidence for colloquial Latin at any period, so I wouldn't be too worried about Snodv's 'pre-classical' reservation. _ita_ can be used in the same way.

Σ


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## Sardokan1.0

Weren't also "immo" and "etiam" used in affirmative answers?

Latin Definitions for: immo (Latin Search) - Latin Dictionary and Grammar Resources - Latdict
Latin Definitions for: etiam (Latin Search) - Latin Dictionary and Grammar Resources - Latdict

They eventually evolved into the Sardinian "emmo" and "eja" (pronounce "èya"), both of them mean "yes", but "emmo" it's used more in affirmative answers, and "eja" in exclamations or in sharp replies.

*P.S.*
In Sardinian doesn't exist "si" as yes, we only use "emmo" or "eja".


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## Scholiast

saluete amici!

_Sardinianus noster_ Sardokan1.0 has of course splendid native knowledge of one of the Romance legacy dialects closest to 'vulgar' Latin as it was spoken in anitiquity, and this at once commends his answer. But arising from this I have a hesitation, or rather, a question: classical Latin uses _immo_ as an adversative particle 'Yes but...', or 'Nay rather...', ' 'Better...'. 'Otherwise...'. Curiosity is therefore aroused, how Latin _immo_ comes to mean 'yes' (_emmo_) in modern Sardinian.

Can anyone illuminate, please?

Σ


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## Snodv

I don't know whether this sheds light or not, but I learned that _immo _ meant "yes" _or_ "no," and thus was often used with clarifying words so the reader or listener could figure out which.  I came to think of it as more emphatic than adversative.  The "nay more" translation  sometimes given isn't a real negative, but means something like _non modo...sed etiam, _e.g. when Cicero says, "Vivit! Immo in senatum venit" and "Causa non bona est? Immo optima." I am only guessing that there must have been a preponderance of positive contexts at some point for_ immo_ to evolve in meaning to "yes."


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## Sardokan1.0

Salve!

Unfortunately I have no clue of how "immo" comes to mean yes in modern Sardinian.  I've noticed sometimes that many Sardinian verbs or expression often derive from secondary meanings in case a verb had various meanings.



Snodv said:


> was often used with clarifying words



This is how it's used in Sardinian, it's used when I give a complete answer to a question.

Example :

_Andadu bi ses a tribagliare? - Emmo, andadu bi so / Emmo, ià bi so andadu
Bonu est su puddu? - Emmo, bonu est / Emmo, ià est bonu_

Instead if a give a short answer, I use "eja" (etiam | et+iam -> e+ià -> e+ia -> eja)

_Andadu bi ses a tribagliare? - Eja
Bonu est su puddu? - Eja_


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## Snodv

Fascinating!


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