Re: CHAT: Politeness in conlangs
From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
Date: | Wednesday, June 9, 1999, 23:14 |
Barry Garcia wrote:
> For you all, they use the pronoun for "they"
"They"? Very unusual to have a third person pronoun be used for second
person.
In Watakass=ED, there is no gramaticalized politeness. Their society is
pretty egalitarian (except for slaves). Slaves are expected to use
"sugatod=EDzkwa" (my elder) or simply third-person agreement for "you",
but even that's not too common. Slaves who've been with their master
for some time are usually allowed to use "you". Slaves are generally
treated much better than the slaves in our history. The polite way to
ask someone to do something is to use the future tense with the
question, for example "Naizlut=E1ssa-yil-bu?" (will you do it?)
--=20
Happy that Nation, - fortunate that age, whose history is not diverting
-- Benjamin Franklin
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