[Lexicog] Re: The irony of thou

[Rudolph Troike]

It was, I think, Steve Marlett who once told me that after working with
a consultant in Mexico for about 6 months, he felt sufficiently close to
the man to use "tu" with him, but the man was so insulted that he refused
to work with Steve any longer. As for Shakespeare's use of "thou" as a
verb, this was undoubtedly calqued from French. In Spanish there is a
verb "tutear", "to use 'tu'" with someone, and there is a sociolinguistic
ritual in inviting someone to "tutear" as a signal of a change in the
relationship.

It is well known that in general, "tu" has overtaken "usted" throughout the
Caribbean, which is presumably related to the late influence from
Andalucia in the settlement of the area, as there are other features such
as aspiration or loss of final -/s/ which are widespread in the Caribbean
and reflect Andalucian features. In Columbia, this is characteristic of
the coastal area. I once had a student from a remote valley of central
Columbia who reported that only "usted" was used there, even between her
parents.

Hayim's comment about Arabic makes me wonder whether the Arabic influence
in Andalucia had any historical effect on the tu/usted use there. It is
interesting that due to European (French and German) influence, Turkish
developed an informal/formal 2nd person distinction, using the plural
for the formal form.

   Rudy Troike



 
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