h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I recall reading somewhere that "hai" doesn't mean "yes", exactly, more like "I hear you." This apparently leads to some confusion in, say, a negotiating session.

You can also say 'hai' to mean yes, and it will be unusual that anyone will misunderstand you if you mean exactly that. It is always better if you want to be specific to nest the 'hai' into context-think of the very careful speech pattern of Princess Zelda in the console game Legend of Zelda.

It's important to look at other cues and to listen to the context if absolute agreement is important. In most contexts, 'hai' = yes is pretty accurate.

Hai means 'yes', but Steve K, you are also correct. If, say, I was talking to a Japanese person, for example, giving them directions, they would punctuate my speech with the odd nod of the head saying 'Hai! Hai!'. They are not necessarily saying 'Yes! Yes! I understand you'. The meaning is just as likely to mean 'Yes! Yes! I am listening to what you're saying'. Or, as Steve K says, 'I hear you'. It's a mechanism that puts the speaker at ease and which oils the wheels of conversation.

Jah ne!

Sam.

Right, er, uhhh ... hai!

I think the situation I am vaguely remembering was a contract negotiation of some sort between Americans and Japanese. During the verbal discussions, the Americans might have said, "We will provide widgets for $100 each", to which the Japanese said "Hai." Then, when a written contract is tabled for signature, the Japanese might say, "$100 is too high for a widget." The Americans would say, "But you agreed!" And the Japanese, of course, might say ... well, you know.

A subtle difference between casual and business discussions, but no problem.

I think this is a perfect situation to explain it. The Japanese businessmen were basically saying "Yes, you will provide widgets for $100 each." Here "Hai" is used as an affirmation in the context of the conversation, not as an answer in the affirmative.

When answering a question directly, use Hai to mean "That is correct," instead of "Yes." For example, if I asked:

Genki desu ka? (How are you?)
Hai, Genki. (Yes. I'm fine)

If I asked in the negative:

Samukunai? (Are you not cold?)
Hai, samukunai.(No, I'm not cold.)

I'm in France, and I miss my Japanese keyboard. I can't find the punctuation marks, and the q is where the a should be. I'm sure they just do it to be difficult.