[Lexicog] Digest Number 193 (Honorifics)

[Fritz Goerling]

To my knowledge there is ample literature on pronouns of "power and
solidarity" (French: tu/vous,
Spanish: tu/usted, German: Du/Sie).
I am always struck and amused by the flowery style of politeness in French
business letters:
"Je sollicite de votre haute bienveillance de bien vouloir m'envoyer ..."
might correspond in
English to "Please send me ...". A French letter ending "Veuillez agréer,
chers Messieurs,
l'expression de mes sentiments distingués" might have its English
counterpart in "Sincerely yours."
In Jula, a West African language requests are often formulated as rhetorical
questions. One is
always on the safe side to address someone by his family name, without Mr.
If you address older
persons by their first names, you put them down. It is a must to express
respect for age, so it
is always good to address someone older as "older brother/sister" or
"my father/mother" even if the older person is not your physical father
or mother. Jula wives might address their husbands as Matigi (Lord, Master).

Fritz Goerling

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


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