Datapoint Thai / Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns

Language:Thai
Feature:Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns by Johannes Helmbrecht
Value:Pronouns avoided for politeness

Notes

câw´

2nd sg. infer.

- affectionate term speaking to inferior or equal;

- obsolete: speaking of king to subject;

- paired with khâa´ and raw´;

- etymologically a noun meaning 'prince, lord' or 'guy,fellow';

- also used as a title placed before first names of a child oran inferior

ˀeŋ´

2nd sg. infer.

- speaking to inferior; assertive and non

-restraint term, male speaking to intimate male;

- paired with khâa´

faa´ baad´

2nd sg. hhon.

-literally meaning: 'sole of foot', speaking to royalitiy(medium or lower ranks)

faa´phrá baad´

2nd sg. hhon.

-literally meaning: 'sole of royal foot', speaking to royalty(higer ranks)

juu´

2nd sg. fam.

-English loan from you; speaking to a friend (belongingto a group which feels identity with English speech and culture);paired withˀaj´

kɛɛ´

2nd sg. infer.

-speaking to inferior;

- non-restraint term used by females;

- impolite if used to kin or non-intimates

- paired with raw´; used as a 3rd person pronoun

khun´

2nd sg. hon.

-etymologically related to khun´ meaning 'virtue, merit';- gerneral polite term used to address equals and superiors;

- paired with phôm´, dichǎn´, andchǎn´;

- used as a noun, it means approximately 'lady, gentleman'

lýý

2nd sg. infer.

-Chinese loan; speaking to lower class Chinese;

- non-restraint term, male speaking to intimate male;

- paired with ˀúa´

myŋ´

2nd sg. rude

-strong non-restraint term, male speaking to intimate

male among adolescents;

- usually considered crude;

- paired with kuu´

naaj´

2nd sg.

-literally 'master, mistress'; generally friendly term used bymales to male equals, but also male to females (adolescents);

- paired with raw´

phanáˀ´thân´

2nd sg. Hhon.

-highly deferential term addressing high ranking non-royalty(ministers in the government);

- than´ is also used as noun classifier designatingroyalty of midddle and lower rank; used also as title

phráˀoŋ´

2nd sg. hon.

- term used by royalty in addressing other royalty ofapproximately equal rank (not used by commoners to addressroyalty);

- also used as noun classifier designating high ranking royalty,deity or the Buddha

raw´

2nd sg. infer.

-this is a 1st plural form having also a 2nd person reference(cf. nursery we in Engl.);

- identification of speaker with addressee, speaking toinferiors (adults to children)

tâaj fàa´laˀɔɔŋ´phrá bàad´

2nd sg. hhon.

- literally 'dust under sole of royal foot'; speaking to royalty(persons next in rank to the king);

- pronominal status is doubtful

tâaj fàa´laˀɔɔŋ´thúlii´phrá bàad´

2nd sg. hhon.

- literally 'dust under sole of royal foot'; speaking to king;pronominal status is doubtful

tâaj fàa´phrá bàad´

2nd sg. hhon.

- litrerally 'underneath sole of royal foot'; speaking tohighranking royalty; pronominal status is doubtful

tâaj tháaw´

2nd sg. hhon.

- literallay 'underneath foot'; highly deferential term used inaddressing high ranking superiors;

- paired with kraphǒm´;

- pronominal status is doubtful

thân´

2nd sg. hhon.

- highly deferntial term speaking to superiors such as priests,high officials, and others who deserve special respect; speaking toroyalty, especially of lower rank; used also as 3rd person pronounwith the same respect categories;

- used also as a noun classifier designating highly respectedpersons; used as a title placed before names or kin terms

thəə´

2nd sg. infer.

- speaking to inferior, particularly female teacher to pupil, orolder to younger kin; paired with chǎn´;

- speaking to intimate equal; paired with chǎn´andraw´;

- used also as a third person pronoun

tua´

2nd sg. intim.

- etymologically a noun meaning 'self, body'; affectionate orintimate term, speaking to equal or inferior not older thanspeaker;

- paired with chǎn´, raw´, khǎw´; child or young womanspeaking to intimate

References