Universal #658
Legacy number: 658
| Number | 655 |
| Original | In languages in which categories of proximity, inclusiveness and definiteness are employed to convey social meaning, non-proximate, exclusive, and indefinite or impersonal usually indicate greater respect or social distance than do the opposing ones; inanimate and non-human typically indicate less respect than do their counterparts, when used with social meaning. |
| Standardized | In languages in which categories of proximity, inclusiveness and definiteness are employed to convey social meaning, non-proximate, exclusive, and indefinite or impersonal usually indicate greater respect or social distance than do the opposing ones; inanimate and non-human typically indicate less respect than do their counterparts, when used with social meaning. |
| Keywords | proximity, inclusiveness, definiteness, social distance, respect |
| Domain | inflection, semantics |
| Type | no genuine implication; rather: provided that |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | more than one hundred languages in Head 1978 |
| Source | Head 1978: 194, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=20"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> |
Discussion
Counterexamples
The category of number is a possible, though not likely, exception to this assertion, since it is conceivably employed more widely in reference to the speaker than in address. (Head 1978: 194)
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