Honorifics (linguistics)

This article is on systems of honorific speech in linguistics. For honorific titles, see Honorific.

In linguistics, an honorific is a grammatical or morphosyntactic form that encodes the relative social status of the participants of the conversation. It may convey formality, social distance, politeness, deference, or respect. Honorific speech is a type of social deixis, as its use relies entirely on context.

There are three main types of honorifics, categorized according to the individual whose status is being expressed:

• Addressee (or Speaker/Hearer) honorifics, which express the social status of the person being spoken to
• Referent (or Speaker/Referent) honorifics, which express the social status of the person being spoken about
• Bystander (or Speaker/Bystander) honorifics, which express the social status of someone who is nearby but not participating in the conversation, also known as the overhearer

A fourth type, the Speaker/Situation honorific, does not concern the status of any participant or bystander, but the circumstances and environment in which the conversation is occurring. The classic example of this is diglossia, in which an elevated or "high form" of a language is used in situations where more formality is called for, and a vernacular or "low form" of a language is used in more casual situations.

Indo-European T-V distinction

Main article: T-V distinction

One common system of honorific speech is T-V distinction. The use of second person tu and vos pronouns was first studied by Brown and Gilman; it is governed by two components – power and solidarity. The Latin tu refers to the singular T-form, while the the Latin vos refers to the V-form, which is usually plural-marked. Tu is used to express informality, and in contrast, vos is used to express politeness and formality. T-V distinction can be found in many European languages that were heavily influenced by Latin. In addition to European languages, T-V distinction can also be found elsewhere.

Polish

Polish has a simpler grammatical and lexical politeness incorporated into its language, in comparison to Japanese and Korean. It uses grammatical category of honorifics within certain verbs and personal pronouns; this honorific system is namely split into two basic levels – the familiar (T) and the polite (V). The honorific distinction mostly appears in the second-person: ty is second-person singular,informal; vy is second-person plural, informal; pan (male-marked)/pani (female-marked) is second-person singular, formal; panowie (male-marked)/panie (female-marked) is second-person plural, formal.

In addition, there are two different V forms within the honorific usage of 2nd personal plural – the more formal and the less formal form. The less formal form is more colloquial and used in daily speech more frequently. The higher honorific level includes “compound” pronouns consisting of prefixal pan in conjunction with professional titles: Pan minister - Minister; Pan dyrektor – Director; Pan kierowca – driver; Pan doktor - doctor. These professional titles are extremely more formal as the speaker humbles him/herself and puts the addressee at a higher rank or status.

Historical factors played a major role in shaping the Polish usage of honorifics. Poland’s history of nobility was the major source for Polish politeness, which explains how the honorific male-marked pronoun pan (pani is female-marked) was derived from the old word for “lord.” There are separate honorific pronouns used to address a priest (ksiqdz), a nun or nurse (siostra). It is acceptable to replace siostra with pani when addressing a nurse, but it is unacceptable when speaking to a nun. Likewise, it is unacceptable to replace ksiqdz with pan when speaking to a priest. The intimate T form is marked as neutral when used reciprocally between children, relatives, students, soldiers and young people.

Russian

Native Russian speakers usually know when to use the informal second person singular pronoun (ty) or the formal form (vy). The practice of being informal is known as týkan’e while the practice of being formal and polite is referred to výkan’e.

The origin of vy-address came from the Roman Empire and the French due to the influence of their language and culture on the Russian aristocracy. In many other European countries, ty initially was used to address any one person or object, regardless of age and social ranking. Vy was then used to address multiple people or objects altogether. Later, after being in contact with foreigners, the second person plural pronoun acquired another function. Displaying respect and formality, it was used for addressing aristocrats - people of higher social status and power. In Russia, the Emperor fist adopted the plural vy-form. The Emperor is considered plural because he is the representation of the people. From the courts, the middle and lower classes gradually adopted this usage. But, many Russians still only addressed each other in the ty form.

The younger generation and commoners, with minimal education still address each other using ty with no connotation of disrespect though. However, certain Russians who are used to vy-address may perceive the ones who don’t differentiate between ty and vy forms as uneducated, offensive and uncultured.

The use of vy in both the singular and plural form is due to the exposure to the Latin historical and political developments. The usage of vy did not spread throughout the Russian population quickly; as a result, the usage was inconsistent until the eighteenth century, when Vy became more prominent in secular literature.

Avoidance speech

Main article: Avoidance speech

Avoidance speech, or "mother-in-law language," can also be considered a type of honorific speech, as the speaker substitutes a different grammatical form or lexical item in the presence of their mother-in-law or other relative for whom an affinal taboo exists.

Dyirbal

The Dyirbal language has a special avoidance speech style called Jalnguy that is used by a speaker when in the presence of the speaker’s mother-in-law. This mother-in-law language has the same phonology and grammar as the everyday style, but use an almost totally distinct set of lexemes when in the presence of the tabooed relative. This special lexicon has fewer lexemes than the everyday style and typically employs only transitive verb roots whereas everyday style uses non-cognate transitive and intransitive roots. By using this mother-in-law language a speaker then indicates a deferential social relationship.

Guugu-Yimidhirr

In Guugu-Yimidhirr, a traditional Australian Aboriginal language, special avoidance lexemes are used to express deference when in the presence of tabooed in-law relatives. In other words, speakers will either be completely prohibited from speaking to one’s mother-in-law or must employ “avoidance language” to one’s brother-in-law. The brother-in-law language involves a special set of words to replace regular Guugu-Yimidhirr words and the speaker must avoid words which could suggest reference to genitalia or bodily acts. This brother-in-law language therefore indexes a deferential social relationship of the brother-in-law to the speaker and is reflected in the appropriate social behavior of Guugu-Yimidhirr society. For example, one avoids touching tabooed in-laws, looking at them, joking with them, and cursing in their presence.

Other examples of honorifics

English

Modern English has no system of honorific speech. Middle English once exhibited a T-V distinction between the 2nd person singular pronoun thou and the 2nd person plural ye and later you, with the latter being used as an honorific regardless of the number of addressees. Thou and its associated forms have fallen into disuse and are considered archaic, though it is often used by those wishing to sound more formal by using archaic speech.

Japanese

Main article: Honorific speech in Japanese

Japanese honorific speech requires either honorific morphemes to be appended to verbs and some nouns or verbs and pronouns be replaced by words that mean the same but incorporate different honorific connotations. Japanese honorific speech is broadly referred to as keigo (literally "respectful language"), and includes three main categories according to Western linguistic theory: sonkeigo, respectful language; kensongo or kenjōgo, humble language; and teineigo, polite language.

1. Sonkeigo
   • raises the status of the addressee or referent (e.g. third person) in relation to the speaker
   • encodes a feeling of respect
   • example: Sensei ga sochira ni oide ni naru. 'The teacher is going there.'
2. Kenjōgo
   • humbles the status of the speaker in relation to the addressee or referent
   • encodes a feeling of humility
   • example: Asu sensei no tokoro ni ukagau. 'I decided to go to the teacher's place tomorrow.'
3. Teineigo
   • raises the status of the addressee or referent in relation to the speaker
   • encodes politeness
   • example: Sensei ga achira ni irasshaimasu. 'The teacher is going there.'

Another subcategory of keigo is bikago or bika-hyōgen, which means "word beautification" and is used to demonstrate the quality of the speaker’s language. Each type of speech has its own vocabulary and verb endings.

Japanese linguist Ōishi Hatsutarō distinguishes four sources of respect as the primary reasons for using keigo:

1. respecting those who have a higher social rank, extraordinary ability, or credentials
2. respecting those who occupy a dominant position
3. respecting those to whom one is indebted
4. respect for humanity

Comparatively, a more contemporary linguistic account by functional linguist Kikuchi Yasuto posits that honorific speech is governed by social factors and psychological factors.

Some examples of what Yasuto considers social factors include:

• the location and topic being discussed by the speaker
• whether the context is written or spoken
• interpersonal relationships between the speaker, listener, and referent (i.e. positional relationships, relative familiarity, and in-group/out-group relationships).

Some examples of what Yasuto considers psychological factors are:

• the intention of the speaker in using polite speech
• how relative distance in relationships is understood
• how skilled the speaker is in expression.

Javanese

The understanding of honorifics is heavily emphasized by speakers of Javanese. When people demonstrate impoliteness, they are perceived as “un-Javanese,” or ora Djowo in Javanese.

Ngoko is known as the impolite and informal style whereas Krama is known as the polite and formal style. Krama is divided into two other categories: Madyo is classified as semi-polite and semi-formal, and Inggil as fully polite and formal. All these categories are ranked according to age, rank, kinship relations, and “intimacy.” If the speaker is uncertain about the addressee’s age and rank, one then starts from the highest level of formality, moving down to lower levels. Krama is usually learned from parents and teachers, and Ngoko is usually learned from interacting with peers at a younger age.

Javanese women are expected to address their husbands in a more formal way. Such speech pattern is especially more pronounced in areas where arranged marriage are prominent and within households where the husband is considerably older than the wife. Wives seem to be in a more inferior role than husbands because women typically serve men. Husbands generally address their wives by their first name, nickname, or “younger sibling” (dhik), while wives address their husbands as “elder brother” (mas). Children, too, are more naturally inclined to develop a more formal language style when talking to the father. Krama is more frequently used to address the father than the mother.

Javanese women are perceived to be substantially more talkative or even inappropriate. As a result, the mother is not allowed to teach her children about politeness; the father is the designated one to teach. Within households, women are thus given the reputation for offering more and receiving less formal or polite speech from their husband and children.

Korean

Main article: Korean honorifics

Korean honorific speech is a mixture of subject honorification, object exaltation, and the various speech styles. Depending on how these three factors are used, the speaker highlights different aspects of the relationship between the speaker, the subject, and the listener (who may also be the subject).

The Korean language incorporates a hierarchy of speech styles divided according to its system of honorifics each with its own set of verb endings.

The six speech styles from lowest to highest are:

1. plain style (hayla-chey or 해라체)
   • informal
   • typically used with close friends, by parents to their children, or by a relatively older speaker to a child (up to high school age)
   • generally used when writing for a general audience
   • The plain style is prototypically associated with usage by adults to address children, therefore would be offensive should a man use this form to address his wife.
2. panmal or intimate style (panmal-chey or 해체)
   • informal
   • signals more social distance between the speaker and addressee than that when using plain style
   • typically used between good friends and relatives
3. familiar style (hakey-chey or 하게체)
   • more formal than panmal style
   • signals that the speaker will treat the listener with consideration and courtesy
   • typically used when the addressee is below the speaker in age or social rank (e.g. the speaker is at least thirty years old and the addressee is of college age)
   • The familiar style enerally implies the speaker is showing authority therefore typically requires the speaker to be sufficiently mature.
   • Women seldom use familiar style because it is commonly associated with male authority.
4. semiformal or blunt style (hao-chey or 하오체)
   • more formal than familiar style with neutral politeness
   • used to address someone in an inferior position (e.g. age or social rank)
   • A speaker will use semiformal style with a stranger whose social rank is clear but not particularly lower compared to the speaker.
5. polite style (hayyo-chey or 해요체)
   • formal and courteous
   • typically used when the addressee is a superior (e.g. by children to their parents, students to teachers)
   • This is the most common speech style and is commonly used between strangers.
6. formal or deferential style (hapsyo-chey or 합쇼체)
   • used to treat superiors with the most reserve and the most respect
   • commonly used in speeches delivered to large audiences, in news reports, and radio broadcasts
   • In some cases, speakers will switch between polite and formal styles depending on the situation and the atmosphere that one wishes to convey.

These six speech styles are sometimes divided into honorific and non-honorific levels where the formal and polite styles are honorific and the rest are non-honorific. According to Strauss and Eun, the two honorific speech levels are “prototypically used among non-intimate adults of relatively equal rank”. Comparatively, the non-honorific speech levels are typically used between intimates, in-group members, or in “downward directions of address by the speaker to his or her interlocutor."

Modern Nahuatl

Main article: Nahuatl honorifics

The Nahuatl language, spoken in scattered communities in rural areas of Central Mexico, utilizes a system of honorific speech to mark social distance and respect. The honorific speech of the Nahuatl dialects spoken in the Malinche Volcano area of Puebla and Tlaxcala in Mexico is divided into four levels: an “intimate or subordinating” Level I; a “neutral, socially distant” or “respectful between intimates” Level II; “noble” or “reverential” Level III; and the “compadrazgo” or “maximally social distant” Level IV.

Level I is typically used by non-age-mates and non-intimates and is unmarked in terms of prefixation or suffixation of the listener and verbs. Level II is marked by the prefix on- on the verb and is used between intimates. Some Nahuatl speakers have been observed to alternate between Level I and Level II for one listener. The use of both levels is believed to show some respect or to not subordinate the listener. Level III is marked by the prefix on-, the reflexive prefix mo-, and an appropriate transitivizing suffix based on the verb stem. Verbs in Level III may additionally be marked with the reverential suffix –tzinōa. Finally, Level IV is typically used between people who share a ritual kinship relationship (e.g. parent with godparent, godparent with godparent of the same child). Level IV is marked by a proclitic (i.e. word that depends on the following word and works similarly to an affix, such as the word “a” or “an” in English) ma. Another important aspect of Level IV is that it addresses the listener in 3rd person whereas Level I through III all use 2nd person forms. By using this 3rd person form, maximal social distance is achieved.

Pohnpeian

In Pohnpei, honorific speech is especially important when interacting with chiefs and during Christian church services. Even radio announcements are usually in honorific speech because a chief or someone of higher status could potentially be listening. Pohnpeian honorific speech consists of status-lowering (humiliative) speech and status-raising (exaltive) speech, and is usually performed through the choice of verbs and possessive classifier. There are only status-raising nouns but none for status lowering; there are only status-lowering pronouns but none for status-raising.

The construction of possessive classifiers depends on ownership, temporality, degrees of control, locative associations, and status. In addition to status-rising and status-lowering possessive classifiers, there are also common (non-status marked) possessive classifiers. Status-rising and status-lowering possessive classifiers have different properties of control and temporality. Common possessive classifiers are divided into three main categories – relatives, personal items, and food/drink.

Given that rank is inherited matrilineally, maternal relatives have specific classifiers, but paternal relatives do not. Personal items that are in close contact with the higher ranks are marked with honorific language. Food is related to social ranking; there is a hierarchy of food distribution. The best share of food is first distributed to the chief and people of higher status. In possessive constructions, food is linked to low-status possession, but not as heavily link to high-status possession. Tungoal (“food/eating”) is used for all categories of low-status possessives; however, the most widely used high-status classifier, sapwelline (“land/hand”) is not semantically connected to food. There are separate terms for food of high-status people – koanoat, pwenieu, and sak. On Pohnpei, it is also important to follow a specific order of serving food. The higher-ranked people eat first, both in casual family settings and community events. The lower-status people receive the “leftovers” or the weaker portion.

References

• Brown, Penelope and Levinson, Stephen C. 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
• Frawley, William. 1992. Linguistic Semantics. Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Levinson, Stephen C. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

See Also

• Deixis

• Indexicality

• Pragmatics

• Politeness