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While Modern English has a two-form system of yes and no for affirmatives and negatives, earlier forms of English had a four-form system, comprising the words yea, nay, yes, and no. Yes contradicts a negatively formulated question, No affirms it; Yea affirms a positively formulated question, Nay contradicts it.
In particular, a person on Quora gave an interesting explanation: "English used to use what’s called a “four-form” system. “Yea” and “nay” were only used to answer positive questions, while “yes” and “no” were only used to answer negative questions."
The earliest known use of the word yea-and-nay is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for yea-and-nay is from around 1384, in Bible (Wycliffite, early version). yea-and-nay is formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: yea adv., and conj.1, nay adv.1.
yea or nay. idiom. Add to word list. yes or no: They have the power to hire and fire managers and say yea or nay to big investment projects. They are waiting for the chance to be able to vote yea or nay on their local leaders. I don't think he's decided yea or nay as yet.
While Modern English has a two-form system of yes and no for affirmatives and negatives, earlier forms of English had a four-form system, comprising the words yea, nay, yes, and no. In essence, yes and no were the responses to a question posed in the negative, whereas yea and nay were the responses to positively framed questions.
Yea (pronounced like yay /jeɪ/) and nay have different uses. They are most commonly used in formal voting. Yea means “yes” or signals and an affirmative vote. Nay means “no” or signals a negative vote.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. The World English Bible translates the passage as: But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
