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2nd person plural and 2nd polite forms | ||
Tags: Polite/Informal Forms | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| David Hallgren Triglot Groupie Sweden davidhallgren.se Joined 6998 days ago 40 posts - 43 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Japanese Studies: Mandarin | Message 17 of 32 21 November 2005 at 2:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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I know it does exist in quite a few languages. I tried to find pages about this phenomenon called Pluralis majestatis, Pluralis majestaticus, Pluralis excellentiæ, etc. :) but couldn't find any good one. Here are two pages with some comments about it though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Majestatis http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-oneness-unity-plural-of- majesty-pluralis-majestaticus-royal-we.htm Edited by David Hallgren on 21 November 2005 at 2:50am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7379 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes  12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 18 of 32 21 November 2005 at 9:44am | IP Logged | |||||
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David thank you for this link, this is most interesting! In French we also joke that Julius Ceaser in his book spoke of himself as "he" and that this is a sign of self-importance.
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| That_Guy Diglot Groupie United States Joined 7101 days ago 74 posts - 87 votes Studies: Hindi, English*, Spanish | Message 19 of 32 22 November 2005 at 7:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't know if this is limited to Hindi or not, but Hindi has three levels of politeness.
Ap - You, singular, formal Tum - You, singular, informal Tu - You, singular, extremely informal, only to be used with children (if the speaker is an adult) or lovers. I think it can actually be considered quite offensive if used with someone who you are either unaquainted with or of a lower class than. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6897 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 20 of 32 15 January 2006 at 1:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
As I understand it it is fairly common. And it is used by the pope as well. But what about that other one-person "we" in English, found in cozy and relaxed everyday language and not "royal" at all, like in "give us a kiss", "If you need anything, give us a shout." etc. I am familiar with the usage, and use it myself, but have never really seen it analysed anywhere. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6890 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian | Message 21 of 32 23 January 2006 at 5:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I know that in both Danish and Swedish this phenomenon exists as well:
Du (Dan/Swe) - you, 2. pers. singular, "informal" De/I (Dan) - like "Sie" in German, "formal" Ni (Swe) - like "Sie" in German, "formal" As for the Danish case, the formal/polite addressing form seems to have disappeared during the 1970s. It is only used in official letters, in the Parliament, when addressing the royal family etc. Some older people use it. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7018 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 22 of 32 24 January 2006 at 5:57am | IP Logged | |||||
Do Danes do that regularly? (lol) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Skandinav Hexaglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 6890 days ago 139 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Danish*, English, German, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian | Message 23 of 32 24 January 2006 at 6:14am | IP Logged | |||||
Well, it's a small country... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 7037 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 24 of 32 30 January 2006 at 9:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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In Dutch too you use the same word for speaking to a group or in formal to 1 person: U. (Simular to German with Sie.) (Or a rather old word in Dutch is Gij instead of U :-) Edited by tuffy on 30 January 2006 at 9:49am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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