I understand Greek is part of the Indo-European language family. Why does nai mean yes while similar sound means no almost universally in the other languages. Was ancient Greek any different? Thanks 🙏
First of all, the resemblance of the Greek yes (ναι - nai) with the Indo-European variations of no is entirely coincidental.
Both Modern Greek words for yes and no come from Ancient Greek. Interestingly, Ancient Greeks did not use direct yes and nos often. They would express affirmation or objection with full phrases.
However, ναι already appears in the Homeric epics and it is an enthusiastic affirmation. It didn't mean exactly "yes", but rather an "Indeed!" exclamation. In the process, its usage became plainer and more generic.
The Modern Greek όχι (ókhi - no) comes from the Ancient Greek οὐ(κ) [ou(k)] which is a negative meaning "not". Ancient Greek had many negative words from different roots that were used in basically the same way, i.e
1. the οὐ from which many words derived such as
ουκ - not, another form of οὐ
2. the μή (mē) with derivatives such as
μηδέν - nothing, and also the number zero
3. AND the νή (nē) which as you probably guessed is the common Indo-European root for no!
They all survive in Modern Greek in different ways. All the derivatives I listed as examples are used in everyday Modern Greek too.
As for the roots themselves:
The οὐ (ou) survived through its more enthusiastic version ουχί (oukhí) meaning "Of course not!" which gradually became όχι (ókhi), and came to mean the simple modern no.
The μή survives intact and it means "don't" in the imperative i.e "Don't speak!" is "Μή μιλάς!". It also has an equivalent use as “non” i.e non-talkative = μη ομιλητικός.
The νή is the most obscure of all, surviving intact only in a few derivative words such as the word "νηνεμία" which means ¨windlessness¨ and it was exactly like that in the Homeric Greek already.
BONUS: The Modern Greek word for "not-don’t" in the indicative is δεν (then). Did you notice the ουδέν and μηδέν I wrote above, both meaning "nothing"? Δεν is short for these words, generally believed to come specifically from ουδέν.
Why Greek showed such preference for οὐ and μή over νή, unlike the other Indo-European languages, is a mystery. However, linguists have found οὐ sounding negatives in Mycenaean Greek texts in Linear B script (meaning before the creation of the Greek alphabet and before the 13th century BCE) so this one is very old too. There have been some hypotheses as to how οὐ evolved to be a negative but nothing certain yet.
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