Re: Pronouns & sexualit
| From: | Sai Emrys <saizai@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 18:09 |
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On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Chris Wright <dhasenan@...> wrote:
> Another issue is how this semantic content gets into pronouns.
Have you taken a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pronouns ?
They have quite a variety! Some of them have clear etymologies (if you
know Japanese). E.g. "omae" is literally something like "(honorific)
([thing/person] in front of me)".
Bonus irony points: omae is a very rude / intimate pronoun to use, yet
one of the very few that has an honorific in it. :-P
This isn't quite the same as social group distinction (though we
English speakers have that too - e.g. special pronouns for judges,
members of congress, doctors, etc), but it's close.
- Sai
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