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Old 04-29-2015, 08:44 PM
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Language Formality

This is in the "when you change the language you think in then your thoughts change" department.

I am in the first sentences of learning Italian. One of the first things that hit me is the similarity that Italian has with German when it comes to addressing people: Sie vs. Du. The Italian equivalents escape me at the moment. I am writing off the cuff.

Does English have such a formality? I am from the Mr vs. Dude level of simple vocabulary, but I know that is of different tones.
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Old 04-29-2015, 08:52 PM
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The English 'familiar' second person pronoun is 'thou,' corresponding to the formal (or at least, not-familiar) 'you.' But 'thou' has dropped out of common usage, and now sounds old-fashioned and, ironically, formal.

In English, one now uses 'you' for everyone at all times.

'Dude' of course is very informal, a youth culture word really. Use by older adults can thus actually be an insult, a way of implying someone is low status, like an unproven youth. Or it can be a friendly familiarity. Context is everything.

Last edited by donquixote99; 04-29-2015 at 08:57 PM.
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Old 04-29-2015, 08:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ebacon View Post
This is in the "when you change the language you think in then your thoughts change" department.

I am in the first sentences of learning Italian. One of the first things that hit me is the similarity that Italian has with German when it comes to addressing people: Sie vs. Du. The Italian equivalents escape me at the moment. I am writing off the cuff.

Does English have such a formality? I am from the Mr vs. Dude level of simple vocabulary, but I know that is of different tones.
French has Vous vs. Tu as well. I suppose this could be due to the strong Frankish influence on German and French but I don't know. Since the Franks ran the Holy Roman Empire for a while, that same Frankish influence could have informed modern Italian too.

Anyway, I don't think the ancestry of the English language, which is predominantly Celtish, Saxon and old Norse, produced a similar differentiation between formal and familiar forms of address.

John
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Old 04-29-2015, 08:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by donquixote99 View Post
The English 'familiar' second person pronoun is 'thou,' corresponding to the formal (or at least, not-familiar) 'you.' But 'thou' has dropped out of common usage, and now sounds old-fashioned and, ironically, formal.

In English, one now uses 'you' for everyone at all times.
You rock.

Thou rocks.

That is the difference. You nailed it. When I am afraid to make a mistake in German I go with Sie and a plural (or feminine case?). Do not know how to say it now.

My friend from Vietnam does the same with me. He uses English plurals excessively.

There is a long history buried in that courtesy.
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Old 04-30-2015, 02:28 AM
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ebacon, sir vs. ebacon

???
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Old 04-30-2015, 02:32 AM
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And why do you learn Italian? This makes no sense. Do you want to understand what Caruso is singing?

Learn Chinese - referring to the forthcoming decades, everybody should do so.
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Old 04-30-2015, 05:44 AM
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Italian is one of the best scholarly languages to know for study of European art and music....
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Old 04-30-2015, 05:50 AM
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You rock.

Thou rocks.

Or in the old style conjugation, thou rocketh.
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Old 04-30-2015, 08:25 AM
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Spanish

You : Usted - formal
Tu - informal

Similarly Russian

You: Bbi - formal
Tbi - informal
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Old 05-01-2015, 05:14 PM
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And why do you learn Italian? This makes no sense. Do you want to understand what Caruso is singing?

Learn Chinese - referring to the forthcoming decades, everybody should do so.
So many languages, so little time.

Italian interests me because there is a big Italian community in my area. It is a language that was kind of the background sound during my high school years.

What would be really neat is to learn a language that has different written characters than English, such as Russian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. But for me that seems like too big a pursuit for my simple hobby interest.
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