Re: Politeness

--- Christopher B Wright <faceloran@...> wrote:
> Iyan Makswel nsakwish:
> >Hey, I had an idea for a "politeness" rule in
> Lyngom-Vampyr and was
> wondering if
> >a similar phenomenon occurs in any natlang.
>
> It happens in Japanese as well as English, I hear.
> Eurolangs usually do
> this with pronouns (such as Spanish usted from
> wossname "your mercy",
> such as English "you" rather than "thee, thou").
> Spanish also has that
> special word I forget for "I would like".
Yeah, I lied saying I'd only reply to one email
earlier - this is my second reply so I'll be late to
my rendezvous, but I couldn't resist! :-)

Spanish "I would like" would most definitely be
"quisiera" and in archaic Span. "quisiese".  It's not
that special of a form if you consider other verbs of
this tense (past conditional, I think, but I really
can't recall the tense schema very well at the
moment).  You have "pudiera" which is "(I or s/he)
would be able..." as in "would you be able to open the
open?" - it's of the same verb tense.

As for Japanese, you are 100% correct these people
don't ask direct questions; even if their questions
are direct among themselves, questions still sound so
formal to the unaccustomed foreign ear!

Ex:  English direct ques.--> Japanese direct ques.

- Where's the door?
   --> Door, where be.may/it (?)
      [To wa, doko deshou ka] =OR=
      [Doa wa, doko desu ka]

- Can you tell me where the door is?
   --> Door, where (?) teaching-receive.not may/I (?)
      [To wa, doko ka oshiete-itadakemasen deshou ka]

- Feel free to call with any questions. (eg, business)
   --> Nanika go-fumeina ten ga arimashiara, douzo
       go-renraku kudasaimasu yoo (ni) onegai-moushi-
       agemasu.
      [Something (honorific, =you/r)-not.clear point
      exist.(conditional, =if), in.all.ways
      (honorific, =you/r)-contact give way (into)
      (humbly, =we) request-(humbly, =we) verbalize.]

M.E.S.








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