African OK !

[janilta]

Alan,

Your message reminded me that I read something about the African origin
of 'OK' somewhere... and now I have my source...
Well, I must write first that I don't have a personnal opinion about the
origin of 'OK'... ;-) but this seems convincing...

In 'the African heritage of American English' (Holloway & Vass) the
authors assess that :
'Mandingo o-ke, Dogon o-kay, Djako o-ke, Western Fula eeyi kay, Wolof
waw kayk/waw ke... all meaning 'yes, indeed', 'all right'. Note
widespread use in languages of West Africa of kay as confirmatory
markers, especially after 'yes'.
O-ki as surprised affirmation in Black Jamaican English was recorded in
1816 and predates by over 20 years OK in White speech in New England and
kay-ki in Black English as affirmative use was recorded from as early as
1776. Early attempts were made to explain OK as initial letters of 'all
correct', French 'au quai', German, Greek, Scots, English, Finnish,
Chocktaw origin'...
This book also mention 'uh-huh' for yes and 'mhm' for no as 'widespread
use throughout Africa'...

Regards, Yann.