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Q&A Why does German use the third person plural for the second person polite?

You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), Universals of Human Language, ...

posted 2y ago by Keelan‭  ·  edited 2y ago by Keelan‭

Answer
#6: Post edited by user avatar Keelan‭ · 2022-07-23T06:03:39Z (over 2 years ago)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
#5: Post edited by user avatar Keelan‭ · 2022-07-23T06:00:54Z (over 2 years ago)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
#4: Post edited by user avatar Keelan‭ · 2022-07-23T06:00:20Z (over 2 years ago)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
#3: Post edited by user avatar Keelan‭ · 2022-07-18T05:32:46Z (over 2 years ago)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees
  • in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
#2: Post edited by user avatar Keelan‭ · 2022-07-17T06:46:22Z (over 2 years ago)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees
  • in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the derivation would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
  • You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees
  • in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.
  • Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.
  • So the development would have been:
  • 1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
  • 2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
  • 3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
  • 4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Keelan‭ · 2022-07-17T06:46:03Z (over 2 years ago)
You may be interested in Head, Brian F. (1978). 'Respect Degrees
in Pronominal Reference', in Joseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson, and Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

On pages 167–171 he discusses use of the third person for address in Amharic, Bemba, Danish, Eastern Pomo, Efatese, German, Harari, Italian, Janger, Kashmiri, Kefa, Lala, Lamba, Norwegian, Nsenga, Sotho, Swedish, Tagalog, and Welamo. Not all of these are like German in that they use a non-singular pronoun; some use a third person singular.

Head also suggests a distinction between languages that only allow the third person when it is endophoric (discourse-bound), as in French _Monsieur veut-il?_, and languages like German, where the third person can be used in exophoric (discourse-free) contexts as well. In at least German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Italian, the exophoric use would be derived from the endophoric use. This was at a time that these languages used a third person singular for address. The shift to plural occurred only later in German, Danish, and Norwegian, and did not happen at all in Italian and some forms of Swedish.

So the derivation would have been:

1. *Mein Herr, möchtest du ...*
2. *Mein Herr, möchte er ...* (endophoric; cf. French *Monsieur veut-il*)
3. *Mein Herr, möchten Sie ...* (shift to plural like in the second person in many other languages)
4. *Möchten Sie ...* (reanalysis of 3PL as polite 2SG leads to exophoric use)