Universal #645
Legacy number: 645
| Number | 642 |
| Original | In languages in which variation of person in pronominal reference is used to show degrees of respect or social distance, the 3rd person indicates greater social distance when used in reference to either the addressee or the speaker than do the pronouns of the 2nd and 1st person, respectively. |
| Standardized | In languages in which variation of person in pronominal reference is used to show degrees of respect or social distance, the 3rd person indicates greater social distance when used in reference to either the addressee or the speaker than do the pronouns of the 2nd and 1st person, respectively. |
| Keywords | personal pronoun, 3 person, 2 person, 1 person, respect, social distance, addressee, speaker |
| Domain | inflection, semantics |
| Type | unconditional |
| Quality | almost absolute? |
| Basis | more than one hundred languages in Head 1978 |
| Source | Head 1978: 191, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=7"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> |
Discussion
Counterexamples
German of about 1800 poses a problem for this universal. In its system the 2nd person pronoun “Ihr” indicates greater social distance than do the personal pronouns of the 3d person “er ” and “sie” (Simon 1997).
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