Datapoint Vietnamese / Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns

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

Examples

Sentence 3043:

anh

2nd sg. infer.

- outside the extended family;

- persons of lower class are addressed by anh ('elder brother') for males, and by chi ('elder sister') for females;

- aristocracy, professionals, landowners, buisiness executives use it to address laborers, and servants;

- age seems to have an overriding function, an older laborer is politely address by ong ('grandfather') or by bà ('grandmother');

- anh is not fixed to a person category, it can therefore not considered as a real personal pronoun

anh

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi (1sg.hum) for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- anh ('elder brother') for boys roughly over twelve and under twenty

bà

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- bà ('grandmother') for all married women and for women the same age as the speaker or older, unless they merit cu;

- bà is not fixed to a person category, it can therefore not considered as a real personal pronoun

bác-sĩ

2nd sg. hon.

- 'doctor', polite means to address s.o.;

- status term address forms commonly give a greater degree of respect than kinship term address forms

bay

2nd sg. infer.

- abrupt form expresses deep familiarity or signals that the speaker considers the hearer grossly inferior;

- the latter use is arrogant, so that this pro is rarely used;

- chúngbay is 2nd pl (familiarity/ inferiority);

- interestingly, there is no polite/ respectful equivalent 2nd person pro

chị

2nd sg. infer.

- outside the extended family;

- persons of lower class are addressed by anh ('elder brother') for males, and by chị ('elder sister') for females;

- aristocracy, professionals, landowners, buisiness executives address laborers and servants with chị ;

- age seems to have an overriding function, an older laborer is politely address by ong ('grandfather') or by bà ('grandmother');

- chị is not fixed to a person category, it can therefore not considered as a real personal pronoun

cô

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- tôi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- cô ('aunt') for unmarried girls and women from about ten years old, unless they merit bà or cụ.

cụ

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- cụ ('Great-Grandparents') for persons of advanced age, roughly the age of one's grandparents

em

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- em ('younger brother') for younger children

giáo-su̢

2nd sg. hon.

-'teacher, professor', probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixed to one person category

mày

2nd sg. infer.

- abrupt form expresses deep familiarity, or signals that the speaker considers the hearer grossly inferior;

- the latter use is arrogant, so that this pro is rarely used

- chúng máy is 2nd pl (familiarity/ inferiority)

ngài/ ngu̢ò̢i

2nd sg. hon.

- used to address high ranking officials

ông

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- tôi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- ong ('grandfather') for all men twenty and older, unless they deserve cụ;

- probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixed to one person category

thây giáo

2nd sg. hon.

- 'teaching master';

- probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixed to one person category

thây thuoc

2nd sg. hon.

- 'medicine master';

- probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixed to one person category

References