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xiphiasSo, Spanish distinguishes between "tu" and "usted". French has "tu" and "vous". German has "du" and "sie", and Japanese has something similar, I think.
English USED to use "thou" and "you" the way French uses "tu" and "vous", but eventually dropped "thou".
So, which is more common: for a language to HAVE this second-person-pronoun formality distinction, or to LACK it? What are some other examples in other languages?
I figure, I've got a bunch of linguistic geeks on my friends list who might be interested in this question.
English USED to use "thou" and "you" the way French uses "tu" and "vous", but eventually dropped "thou".
So, which is more common: for a language to HAVE this second-person-pronoun formality distinction, or to LACK it? What are some other examples in other languages?
I figure, I've got a bunch of linguistic geeks on my friends list who might be interested in this question.