[Lexicog] Digest Number 193 (Honorifics)

[Ron Moe]

I just searched my list of semantic domains for one that dealt with
honorifics. Finding none, I added it. However I find that I know little
about how languages actually handle levels of respect. Having grown up in
Japan, I know that it has an elaborate system. However since I was a small
child when I learned Japanese, I never learned the system. I know that there
are both lexical and morphological choices one must make. There are
different sets of pronouns and particles, and the verb morphology is
affected. English used to distinguish 'thou' (informal) from 'you' (formal).
French still has such a distinction in the second person singular pronoun.
English has some words that are used in formal settings (e.g. 'however' and
'nevertheless' vs 'but'), but this is normally handled under 'register'
rather than 'honorifics'. However I believe that our terms of direct address
(buddy, sir, ma'am, your honor, your majesty) would qualify as honorifics. I
also believe our greetings (hey, hi, hello, pleased to meet you) could
qualify. There are also levels of politeness in requests (can, may, please)
and apologies (sorry, excuse me, I beg your pardon). Can anyone give
examples of (1) pronouns, (2) particles, (3) affixes, (4) terms of direct
address, (5) greetings (6) requests, (7) apologies? Are there other sets of
words that function as honorifics? Is there any literature on the subject?

Ron Moe

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth C. Hill [mailto:kennethchill at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2004 11:59 AM
To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Lexicog] Digest Number 193 (Honorifics)



One needs a pretty specific idea of what an egalitarian vs. a stratified
society is to handle this query right. My experience with honorific
systems comes from Japanese and Korean on one side, societies
traditionally recognized as "stratified" and Nahuatl on the other. Nahuatl
(= Aztec) must have been associated with what anyone would regard as a
stratified society back before the Spanish conquest in 1521, but the
system of honorifics in present-day usage is quite elaborate but with a
society that is found at the bottom or margin of the socioeconomic system
in modern Mexico. See Jane H. Hill and Kenneth C. Hill, Honorific usage in
modern Nahuatl: the expression of social distance and respect in the
Nahuatl of the Malinche Volcano area, Language 54:123-155 (1978).

In brief (as I recall without going back to check the details): We found
four levels of honorifics. Level 1 is how one addresses intimates, small
children, and pets. Level 2 is for strangers and persons treated formally.
Level 3 is for respected persons, the dead, and God. Level 4 is for
obsequious respect, as for the archbishop in an interview with a priest,
and for ritual kin.

--Ken

--- Jimrem at aol.com wrote:

> 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 "Wanlshi! (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 "Tkmike! (Come
> in!)."  When
> speakers have been pressed to say something more like "Welcome!" the
> usually
> have to create a sentence like "Nulelint`m 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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