[Lexicog] Digest Number 193

[Fritz Goerling]

I  wonder whether a more egalitarian society, even if it has less honorific
terms, does not have other ways of expressing respect
(e.g. for age), either by verbal or non-verbal means. In Jula, a West
African language, a lot is expressed by how (long) you greet
someone and what kind of handshake you use. Addressing someone by his family
name shows respect.
After the revolution in Burkina-Faso they tried to introduce egalitarianism
by imposing "camarade" (comrade) as a term of address on everyone. Now they
are
back to "chef""(chief), a widely-used term of address in French-speaking
West Africa for certain superiors (like policemen), equals (something like
"mate")
and inferiors (in good-natured jest) and to strangers (of someone whose name
you don't know).  Now everyone is "chef", so noone is "chef."

Fritz Goerling
(alias Coulibaly Ibrahima, my African name)



  My colleague Bruce Pearson and I, working on the Lenape (Delaware Indian
language), have noted that this language, spoken in an egalitarian society,
lacks many honorific terms.  Pearson, who has previously studied Japanese,
spoken in a society that traditionally has been highly stratified, has noted
numerous honorifics.

  As an example, the common reply In Lenape to "Wanìshi! (Thank you!)" is
"Yuh!" which means something like "O.K.!"  There is no exact term for
"You're welcome!"

  We have also had inquiries about how to say "Welcome!" in the sense of
welcoming someone to your home.  The usual word used is "Tëmike! (Come
in!)."  When speakers have been pressed to say something more like
"Welcome!" the usually have to create a sentence like "Nulelintàm eli paan!
(I am glad that you came!)."

  We wonder if other members of this list have equated the lack of honorific
terms in a language they speak or work with to that language being used in a
more egalitarian society?

  Jim Rementer

  Lenape Language Project
  The Delaware Tribe
  220 NW Virginia Avenue
  Bartlesville OK 74003
  918-336-5272, ext. 503 (work)




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