ATLAS OF LANGUAGE

AT-145-001 · ATLAS 251

Pronoun avoidance

A politeness strategy replacing direct personal pronouns with titles, kinship or status terms.

Explanation

In several East and Southeast Asian languages politeness is not simply a formal word for ‘you’; the social relationship may be named instead.

Example

Korean sensayng-nim ‘teacher’, Japanese o-taku and Vietnamese relational anh offer different routes around direct second-person reference.

Counterexample

German Sie is a polite pronoun, not pronoun avoidance.

Distinction

direct person reference ↔ relational address

Effect on thought and perception

Makes social position and relationship the route of reference.

Resonance

Address becomes navigation through social space.

Cite this entry

Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Pronoun avoidance“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-145-001. ATLAS 251, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-145-001

https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-145-001

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