In linguistics, an echo answer or echo response is a way of answering a polar question without using words for yes and no. The verb used in the question is simply echoed in the answer, negated if the answer has a negative truth-value. For examples:
- "Did you go to the cinema?" (or "Didn't you go to the cinema?")
- "I did not." or "I didn't go."
Read more about Echo Answer: Finnish, Celtic Languages, Latin, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese
Famous quotes containing the words echo and/or answer:
“I’ve noticed that the children of other nations always seem precocious. That’s because the strange manners of their elders have caught our attention most and the children echo those manners enough to seem like their parents.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“We need to encourage members of this next generation to become all that they can become, not try to force them to become what we want them to become. . . . You and I can’t even begin to dream the dreams this next generation is going to dream, or answer the questions that will be put to them.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)