Universal #647

Legacy number: 647

 Number  644
 Original  Use of the 3rd person personal pronoun to show greater respect or social distance than the 2nd person pronoun in reference to the addressee is usually introduced into languages by substitution of nouns or nominal expressions used in respectful address.
 Standardized  IF 3rd person personal pronoun is used to show greater respect or social distance than the 2nd person pronoun in reference to the addressee, THEN this use is usually introduced by substitution of nouns or nominal expressions used in respectful address.
 Keywords  personal pronoun, person, number, respect, social distance, addressee
 Domain  inflection, semantics
 Type  no genuine implication; rather: provided that
 Status  diachronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  more than one hundred languages in Head 1978
 Source  Head 1978: 191, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=9"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">

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Discussion
Notes
This assertion is not intended to exclude or deny the possibility of diffusion between languages.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
This assertion is not intended to exclude or deny the possibility of diffusion between languages.