Datapoint Vietnamese / Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns

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

Notes

anh

2nd sg. infer.

- outside the extended family;

- persons of lower class are addressed by anh ('elderbrother') for males, and by chi ('elder sister') forfemales;

- aristocracy, professionals, landowners, buisiness executivesuse it to address laborers, and servants;

- age seems to have an overriding function, an older laborer ispolitely address by ong ('grandfather') or by ('grandmother');

- anh is not fixed to a person category, it can thereforenot considered as a real personal pronoun

anh

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi (1sg.hum) for the speaker (over 20 years)himself;

- anh ('elder brother') for boys roughly over twelve andunder twenty

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- ('grandmother') for all married women and for womenthe same age as the speaker or older, unless they meritcu;

- is not fixed to a person category, it can thereforenot considered as a real personal pronoun

bác-sĩ

2nd sg. hon.

- 'doctor', polite means to address s.o.;

- status term address forms commonly give a greater degree ofrespect than kinship term address forms

bay

2nd sg. infer.

- abrupt form expresses deep familiarity or signals that thespeaker considers the hearer grossly inferior;

- the latter use is arrogant, so that this pro is rarelyused;

- chúngbay is 2nd pl (familiarity/inferiority);

- interestingly, there is no polite/ respectful equivalent 2ndperson pro

chị

2nd sg. infer.

- outside the extended family;

- persons of lower class are addressed by anh ('elderbrother') for males, and by chị ('elder sister') forfemales;

- aristocracy, professionals, landowners, buisiness executivesaddress laborers and servants with chị ;

- age seems to have an overriding function, an older laborer ispolitely address by ong ('grandfather') or by ('grandmother');

- chị is not fixed to a person category, it cantherefore not considered as a real personal pronoun

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- tôi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- ('aunt') for unmarried girls and women from aboutten years old, unless they merit or cụ.

cụ

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- cụ ('Great-Grandparents') for persons of advanced age,roughly the age of one's grandparents

em

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- toi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- em ('younger brother') for younger children

giáo-su̢

2nd sg. hon.

-'teacher, professor', probably not a real personal pronoun,because it is not fixed to one person category

mày

2nd sg. infer.

- abrupt form expresses deep familiarity, or signals that thespeaker considers the hearer grossly inferior;

- the latter use is arrogant, so that this pro is rarelyused

- chúng máy is 2nd pl (familiarity/ inferiority)

ngài/ ngu̢ò̢i

2nd sg. hon.

- used to address high ranking officials

ông

2nd sg. hon.

- outside extended family polite useage;

- tôi for the speaker (over 20 years) himself;

- ong ('grandfather') for all men twenty and older,unless they deserve cụ;

- probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixedto one person category

thây giáo

2nd sg. hon.

- 'teaching master';

- probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixedto one person category

thây thuoc

2nd sg. hon.

- 'medicine master';

- probably not a real personal pronoun, because it is not fixedto one person category

References