From: "Christophe Grandsire" <christophe.grandsire@...>
> We have the same use, except that the polite form can *also* be used
> contemptuously when talking to people you'd usually refer to with the
familiar
> pronoun ;))))) . Does any other language with a polite/familiar
distinction has
> this? :)))
I only know of Farsi. The old second person singular _tow_ form is probably
exclusively used in marital/love relationships and poetry. Otherwise, it's
insulting. Even fathers and sons tend to use the second person plural
_ishaan_ form with each other.
There are certainly plenty others. But I wonder which language did this
first? And how did the others come to the same usage?