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<DIV><FONT size=2>Dear all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>In the northern islands of Vanuatu, the kind of
addressees who most prototypically require the use of politeness are
not so much highly-ranked personalities such as chiefs, but rather
in-laws (my spouse's parents, my spouse's siblings, my child's spouse, and so
on).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>In that context, the linguistic aspects of
politeness take various forms. (Following examples are from Mwotlap,
1800 sp. in the Banks Is.)</FONT></DIV>
<UL>
<LI><FONT size=2>One is the prohibition on name-calling: it is taboo for
me to utter the name of any of my in-laws, either when addressing them or
referring to them (I will use kin terms or pronouns instead).<BR> </FONT>
<LI><FONT size=2>Another aspect is the use of honorific plural (cf.
French <EM>tu/vous</EM>), or more precisely <U>honorific dual</U>, either in
address or in reference to an in-law relative. For instance, I will
greet my son-in-law using dual forms, saying (literally) "<EM>Good
morning, you.2! Where are you.2 going?</EM>"<BR> </FONT>
<LI><FONT size=2>Finally, Mwotlap also makes use of two speech registers,
especially on the lexical level (but also sometimes in the morphosyntax).
These are named respectively /<STRONG>hohole vasapsawyeg</STRONG>/ ‘<EM>talk
informally, familiarly</EM>’ vs. /<STRONG>hohole map</STRONG>/ ‘<EM>talk
respectfully</EM>’ (etym. ‘talk heavy’). </FONT></LI></UL>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT size=2>This is not restricted to in-laws, and in fact it is not as
constrained as the systems in Samoa (and elsewhere) seem to be: that is, there
is no specific context in which the use of the polite forms would be mandatory
(as opposed to the name-calling taboo, which must be obeyed). </FONT><FONT
size=2></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>In particular, it is common to mix up the two speech levels
in the same sentence. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>For instance, if /<STRONG>in</STRONG>/ is 'drink' and
/<STRONG>na-ga</STRONG>/ is 'kava', the familiar way to say 'drink kava' is
/<STRONG>in na-ga</STRONG>/, and respectful ways to say the same may be either
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>/<STRONG>dolmweg na-ga</STRONG>/ (change on the verb <
etym. <EM>drink = *dolom </EM>'swallow'<EM> + -akin</EM>) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>or /<STRONG>in nę-będilig</STRONG>/ (change on the noun,
lit. kava = '<EM>troubled water</EM>') </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>or /<STRONG>dolmweg nę-będilig</STRONG>/ (change on noun +
verb), </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>or simply /<STRONG>wan</STRONG>/ (which is a specific
respectful term for 'drink kava', with no monomorphemic equivalent in ordinary
speech).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>These two registers are well developed, i.e. one finds
roughly a hundred or two lexical pairs (familiar vs. respectful) in the
lexicon: such notions as <EM>'eat', 'child', 'father', 'breathe', 'bow
down', 'make', 'big'</EM>… have equivalents in both registers. However it
is not comprehensive: that is, you will find a lexical pair for 'big', but
only one word for 'small' (no respectful term).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>In conclusion, the speech register contrast of
Mwotlap may probably be described as being more flexible, less
constraining than what can be found in more rigid,
hierarchical societies. Rather than being narrowly linked to politeness
and respect, speech registers in Mwotlap seem to play an essentially
aesthetic role: the handling of register nuances helps appreciate, among
story-tellers and orators, the best language connoisseurs. Finally, it
just happens that the beauty of speech typically
constitutes one of the privileged ways to indicate respect to one's
addressee.</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT size=2>All the best,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Alex.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<HR>
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=right><FONT size=1>Alex François<BR>LACITO - CNRS<BR>7 rue Guy
Môquet<BR>F - 94801 Villejuif<BR> FRANCE<BR>tel.
prof. +33 (0)1.49.58.37.48.<BR>tel.
priv./fax +33 (0)1.46.30.34.02.<BR> <BR>email <</FONT><A
href="mailto:Alexandre.Francois@vjf.cnrs.fr"><FONT
size=1>Alexandre.Francois@vjf.cnrs.fr</FONT></A><FONT
size=1>><BR> <BR></FONT><A
href="http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/personnel/francois.htm"><FONT
size=1>http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/personnel/francois.htm</FONT></A><BR><A
href="http://perso.wanadoo.fr/motalava/"><FONT
size=1>http://perso.wanadoo.fr/motalava/</FONT></A></DIV></BODY></HTML>