Where does “yeah” come from?
Yeah is an informal variant of yes, both ultimately from Old English gēse, likely derived from a phrase meaning "may it be so."
yeah (English): Yes; Expressing joy, celebration, glee, etc;...
Definitions
- Yes; Expressing joy, celebration, glee, etc;...
Ancestry of “yeah”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | yea | Yes; Thus, so; Or even, or more like, nay |
| 2 | Middle English | yë | Alternative form of eie |
| 3 | Old English | ġē | ye |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | jahw | and, also |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -hw | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -hwe | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -kʷe | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |