Datapoint Thai / Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns

Language:Thai
Feature:Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns by Johannes Helmbrecht
Value:Pronouns avoided for politeness

Examples

Sentence 3073:

câw´

2nd sg. infer.

- affectionate term speaking to inferior or equal;

- obsolete: speaking of king to subject;

- paired with khâa´ and raw´;

- etymologically a noun meaning 'prince, lord' or 'guy, fellow';

- also used as a title placed before first names of a child or an inferior

ˀeŋ´

2nd sg. infer.

- speaking to inferior; assertive and non

-restraint term, male speaking to intimate male;

- paired with khâa´

faa´ baad´

2nd sg. hhon.

-literally meaning: 'sole of foot', speaking to royalitiy (medium or lower ranks)

faa´phrá baad´

2nd sg. hhon.

-literally meaning: 'sole of royal foot', speaking to royalty (higer ranks)

juu´

2nd sg. fam.

-English loan from you; speaking to a friend (belonging to a group which feels identity with English speech and culture); paired withˀaj´

kɛɛ´

2nd sg. infer.

-speaking to inferior;

- non-restraint term used by females;

- impolite if used to kin or non-intimates

- paired with raw´; used as a 3rd person pronoun

khun´

2nd sg. hon.

-etymologically related to khun´ meaning 'virtue, merit'; - gerneral polite term used to address equals and superiors;

- paired with phôm´, dichǎn´, and chǎn´;

- used as a noun, it means approximately 'lady, gentleman'

lýý

2nd sg. infer.

-Chinese loan; speaking to lower class Chinese;

- non-restraint term, male speaking to intimate male;

- paired with ˀúa´

myŋ´

2nd sg. rude

-strong non-restraint term, male speaking to intimate

male among adolescents;

- usually considered crude;

- paired with kuu´

naaj´

2nd sg.

-literally 'master, mistress'; generally friendly term used by males to male equals, but also male to females (adolescents);

- paired with raw´

phanáˀ´thân´

2nd sg. Hhon.

-highly deferential term addressing high ranking non-royalty (ministers in the government);

- than´ is also used as noun classifier designating royalty of midddle and lower rank; used also as title

phráˀoŋ´

2nd sg. hon.

- term used by royalty in addressing other royalty of approximately equal rank (not used by commoners to address royalty);

- also used as noun classifier designating high ranking royalty, deity or the Buddha

raw´

2nd sg. infer.

-this is a 1st plural form having also a 2nd person reference (cf. nursery we in Engl.);

- identification of speaker with addressee, speaking to inferiors (adults to children)

tâaj fàa´laˀɔɔŋ´phrá bàad´

2nd sg. hhon.

- literally 'dust under sole of royal foot'; speaking to royalty (persons next in rank to the king);

- pronominal status is doubtful

tâaj fàa´laˀɔɔŋ´thúlii´phrá bàad´

2nd sg. hhon.

- literally 'dust under sole of royal foot'; speaking to king; pronominal status is doubtful

tâaj fàa´phrá bàad´

2nd sg. hhon.

- litrerally 'underneath sole of royal foot'; speaking to highranking royalty; pronominal status is doubtful

tâaj tháaw´

2nd sg. hhon.

- literallay 'underneath foot'; highly deferential term used in addressing high ranking superiors;

- paired with kraphǒm´;

- pronominal status is doubtful

thân´

2nd sg. hhon.

- highly deferntial term speaking to superiors such as priests, high officials, and others who deserve special respect; speaking to royalty, especially of lower rank; used also as 3rd person pronoun with the same respect categories;

- used also as a noun classifier designating highly respected persons; used as a title placed before names or kin terms

thəə´

2nd sg. infer.

- speaking to inferior, particularly female teacher to pupil, or older to younger kin; paired with chǎn´;

- speaking to intimate equal; paired with chǎn´and raw´;

- used also as a third person pronoun

tua´

2nd sg. intim.

- etymologically a noun meaning 'self, body'; affectionate or intimate term, speaking to equal or inferior not older than speaker;

- paired with chǎn´, raw´, khǎw´; child or young woman speaking to intimate

References