Re: Second person/polite pronouns (fuit Re: Another Ozymandias)

>Benct Philip Jonsson <bpjonsson@...> wrote:
>How about people's a-priori conlangs: are there any that
>have this (to me) weird syncretism of numbers in the second
>person pronouns -- apart of course from English- speaking
>conlangers' newbie relexes, or languages that simply don't
>distinguish number, of course.  And what about honorific/
>polite second person pronouns?
Senjecan society is rather egalitarian, but there are a few ways to
express politness out of respect, not out of deference.

1) The subjunctive mood can be used for a command instead of the
imperative, e.g.,

tusë sêde = sit down! (Epenthetic vowel ë needed.)
tusë sêdo = Please sit down or Do sit down.

2) Titles or occupations can be used as the subject of the verb in
direct address.  Since verbs are inflected only for mood, context
must give the meaning.

nááusââgus rêðom îîÿar = Does the sailor need a ride?

Context will tell us if the question is asked of the sailor or about
the sailor.

3) There are a few titles of respect:
aasnârïus (noble lord) non-noble to noble or noble to noble.
asâmas/asâpas (revered mother/father) younger to older.
cuuðsûnus/cuuðdûqus (esteemed son/daughter) older to younger.
musïârïus (my lord) anyone to a sovereign.

4)Speaking of pronouns, Senjecas has the "usual" three persons, two
numbers, but with a difference.
There are six classes of nouns in Senjecan, three of which refer to
living beings.  Two of these (-us, -øs) refer to loquent beings.
When a human speaks of himself he says, "mus," addresses others
as "tus," etc.
But a mutant/aberrant loquent being (centaurs, satyrs, etc.) would
say "møs" and "tøs." (ø = /O/)
And, of course, a human would address a centaur as "tøs," and a
centaur would address a human as "tus."

Charlie