Editing T–V distinction (section)

== History and usage in language ==
{{see also|T–V distinction in the world's languages}}
{{globalise section|date=November 2021}}
In classical Latin, {{lang|la|tu}} was originally the singular, and {{lang|la|vos}} the plural, with no distinction for honorific or familiar. According to Brown and Gilman, the [[Roman emperor]]s began to be addressed as ''vos'' in the 4th century AD. They mention the possibility that this was because there were two emperors at that time ([[Eastern Empire|in Constantinople]] and [[Western Empire|in Rome]]), but also mention that "plurality is a very old and ubiquitous metaphor for power." This usage was extended to other powerful figures, such as [[Pope Gregory I]] (590–604). However, Brown and Gilman note that it was only between the 12th and 14th centuries that the norms for the use of T- and V-forms crystallized. Less commonly, the use of the plural may be extended to other [[grammatical person]]s, such as the "[[royal we|royal ''we'']]" (majestic plural) in English.

Brown and Gilman argued that the choice of form is governed by either relationships of "power" or "solidarity", depending on the culture of the speakers, showing that "power" had been the dominant predictor of form in Europe until the 20th century. Thus, it was quite normal for a powerful person to use a ''T''-form but expect a ''V''-form in return. However, in the 20th century the dynamic shifted in favour of solidarity, so that people would use ''T''-forms with those they knew, and ''V''-forms in service encounters, with reciprocal usage being the norm in both cases.

=== Early history: the power semantic ===
In the [[Early Middle Ages]] (the 5th century to the 10th century), the pronoun {{lang|la|vos}} was used to address the most exalted figures, emperors and popes, who would use the pronoun {{lang|la|tu}} to address a subject. This use was progressively extended to other states and societies, and down the social hierarchy as a mark of respect to individuals of higher rank, religious authority, greater wealth, or seniority within a family. The development was slow and erratic, but a consistent pattern of use is estimated to have been reached in different European societies by the period 1100 to 1500. Use of ''V'' spread to upper-class individuals of equal rank, but not to lower class individuals.<ref>Brown & Gilman pp. 254–255</ref> This may be represented in Brown and Gilman's notation:
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="2"| Unequal power
!colspan="2"| Equal power
|-
| Emperor          || Father           || High-class friend || Low-class friend
|-
| T↓{{spaces|2}}↑V || T↓{{spaces|2}}↑V || ↓↑V               || T↓↑
|-
| Subject          || Son              || High-class friend || Low-class friend
|}

=== Modification: the solidarity semantic ===
Speakers developed greater flexibility of pronoun use by redefining relationships between individuals. Instead of defining the father–son relationship as one of power, it could be seen as a shared family relationship. Brown and Gilman term this the semantics of solidarity. Thus a speaker might have a choice of pronoun, depending on how they perceived the relationship with the person addressed. Thus a speaker with superior power might choose ''V'' to express fellow feeling with a subordinate. For example, a restaurant customer might use ''V'' to their favourite waiter. Similarly, a subordinate with a friendly relationship of long standing might use ''T''. For example, a child might use ''T'' to express affection for their parent.<ref>Brown & Gilman pp. 257–258</ref>

This may be represented as:
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="3"| Superior has choice
! colspan="2" | Subordinate has choice
|-
| Customer          || Officer           || Employer          || Parent            || Elder sibling
|-
| T↓V{{spaces|2}}↑V || T↓V{{spaces|2}}↑V || T↓V{{spaces|2}}↑V || T↓{{spaces|2}}T↑V || T↓{{spaces|2}}T↑V
|-
| Waiter            || Soldier           || Employee          || Child             || Younger sibling
|}
These choices were available not only to reflect permanent relationships, but to express momentary changes of attitude. This allowed playwrights such as [[Jean Racine|Racine]], [[Molière]], [[Ben Jonson]], [[Christopher Marlowe]] and [[William Shakespeare]] to express a character's inner changes of mood through outward changes of pronoun.<ref>Brown & Gilman pp. 278–280</ref><ref>Crystal, David & Ben (2002) pp. 450–451. Reproduced at David Crystal's [http://www.shakespeareswords.com/thou-and-you Explore Shakespeare's Works] site</ref>

For centuries, it was the more powerful individual who chose to address a subordinate either with ''T'' or with ''V'', or to allow the subordinate to choose. For this reason, the pronouns were traditionally defined as the "pronoun of either condescension or intimacy" (''T'') and "the pronoun of reverence or formality" (''V''). Brown and Gilman argue that modern usage no longer supports these definitions.<ref>Brown & Gilman p. 258</ref>

=== Modern history ===
Developments from the 19th century have seen the solidarity semantic applied more consistently. It has become less acceptable for a more powerful individual to exercise the choice of pronoun. Officers in most armies are not permitted to address a soldier as ''T''. Most European parents cannot oblige their children to use ''V''. The relationships illustrated above have changed in the direction of the following norms:<ref>Brown & Gilman pp. 269–261</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="3"| Superior choice removed
! colspan="2" | Subordinate choice removed
|-
| Customer || Officer || Employer || Parent || Elder sibling
|-
| ↑↓V      || ↑↓V     || ↑↓V      || T↑↓    || T↑↓
|-
| Waiter   || Soldier || Employee || Child || Younger sibling
|}
The tendency to promote the solidarity semantic may lead to the abolition of any choice of address pronoun. During the [[French Revolution]], attempts were made to abolish ''V''. In 17th century England, the [[Society of Friends]] obliged its members to use only ''T'' to everyone, and some continue to use ''T'' (''thee'') to one another.<ref>Brown & Gilman pp. 266–268</ref> In most Modern English dialects, the use of ''T'' is archaic and no longer exists outside of poetry or dialect.

=== Changes in progress ===
It was reported in 2012 that use of the [[French language|French]] {{lang|fr|vous}} and the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{lang|es|usted}} are in decline in [[social media]].<ref name="bbcnewsmag lawn 2012">{{cite news |last=Lawn |first=Rebecca |title=Tu and Twitter: Is it the end for 'vous' in French? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19499771 |access-date=7 September 2012 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=7 September 2012 }}</ref> An explanation offered was that such online communications favour the philosophy of [[social equality]], regardless of usual formal distinctions. Similar tendencies were observed in [[German language|German]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Estonian language|Estonian]].<ref name="bbcnewsmag lawn 2012"/><ref>Põhjala, Priit (12 April 2013). ''[http://epl.delfi.ee/news/arvamus/priit-pohjala-kas-teietada-voi-sinatada?id=65959496 Kas teietada või sinatada?]'', ''[[Eesti Päevaleht]]''.</ref>

=== History of use in individual languages ===
{{main|T–V distinction in the world's languages}}

==== English ====
The [[Old English]] and [[Early Middle English#Early Middle English|Early Middle English]] [[grammatical person|second person]] pronouns {{lang|enm|thou}} and {{lang|enm|ye}} (with variants) were used for singular and plural reference respectively with no ''T–V'' distinction. The earliest entry in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' for ''ye'' as a ''V'' pronoun in place of the singular ''thou'' exists in a [[Middle English]] text of 1225 composed in 1200.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/231466#eid13732377 |title=ye, ''pron.'' and ''n.'' |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |access-date=10 November 2018 |url-access=subscription |quote=''a''1225 (▸c1200) ''Vices & Virtues'' (1888) 31 (''MED''): {{lang|enm|Hwo is þat us muȝen sceawin ða gode ðe '''ȝe''' us behoteð?}}}}</ref> The usage may have started among the [[Norman French]] nobility in imitation of [[Old French]]. It made noticeable advances during the second half of the 13th century. During the 16th century, the distinction between the [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] form ''ye'' and the [[Object (grammar)|object]] form ''you'' was largely lost, leaving ''you'' as the usual ''V'' pronoun (and plural pronoun). After 1600, the use of ''ye'' in standard English outside of regional dialects was confined to literary and religious contexts or as a consciously archaic usage.<ref>"Interlude 12 : Choosing ''thou'' or ''you''" David Crystal (2004) pp. 307–310</ref>

[[David Crystal]] summarises [[Early Modern English]] usage thus:

''V'' would normally be used
* by people of lower social status to those above them
* by the upper classes when talking to each other, even if they were closely related
* as a sign of a change (contrasting with ''thou'') in the emotional temperature of an interaction

''T'' would normally be used
* by people of higher social status to those below them
* by the lower classes when talking to each other
* in addressing God or Jesus
* in talking to ghosts, witches, and other supernatural beings
* in an imaginary address to someone who was absent
* as a sign of a change (contrasting with ''you'') in the emotional temperature of an interaction<ref>Crystal (2004) p. 308</ref>

The ''T–V'' distinction was still well preserved when Shakespeare began writing at the end of the 16th century. However, other playwrights of the time made less use of ''T–V'' contrasts than Shakespeare. The infrequent use of ''T'' in popular writing earlier in the century such as the [[Paston Letters]] suggest that the distinction was already disappearing from gentle speech. In the first half of the 17th century, ''thou'' disappeared from [[Standard English]], although the ''T–V'' distinction was preserved in many regional dialects. When the [[Quakers]] began using ''thou'' again in the middle of the century, many people were still aware of the old ''T–V'' distinction and responded with derision and physical violence.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

In the 19th century, one aspect of the ''T–V'' distinction was restored to some English dialects in the form of a pronoun that expressed friendly solidarity, written as ''[[y'all]]''. Unlike earlier ''thou'', it was used primarily for plural address, and in some dialects for singular address as well.<ref name="Schneider">{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Edgar W. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqUBUgW_Ax8C&pg=PA284 |chapter=The English dialect heritage of the southern United States |title=Legacies of Colonial English |editor-first=Raymond |editor-last=Hickey |year=2005 |page=284|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-44238-1 }}</ref> The pronoun was first observed in the southern states of the US, although its precise origin is obscure. The pronoun spread rapidly throughout the southern states, and (to a lesser extent) other regions of the US and beyond. This pronoun is not universally accepted, and may be regarded as either nonstandard or a regionalism.<ref>"Interlude 17, Tracking a change: the case of ''y'all''" Crystal (2004) pp. 449–452</ref>

''Yous(e)'' (pron. {{IPAc-en|j|uː|z|}}, {{IPAc-en|j|ə|z|}}) as a plural is found mainly in [[English language in Northern England|(Northern) England]], [[Scottish English|Scotland]], parts of [[Hiberno-English|Ireland]], [[Australian English|Australia]], [[New Zealand English|New Zealand]], [[South African English|South Africa]], northern [[Nova Scotia]] and parts of [[Ontario]] in Canada and parts of the northeastern United States (especially areas where there was historically Irish or Italian immigration), including in [[Boston]], [[Philadelphia]], [[New York City|New York]], and scattered throughout working class communities in the American [[Rust Belt]].

==== French ====
In [[Old French]] texts, the pronouns {{lang|fr|tu}} and {{lang|fr|vous}} are often used interchangeably to address an individual, sometimes in the same sentence. However, some emerging pattern of use has been detected by recent scholars.<ref>Summarised in Fagyal et al. (2006) pp. 267–268</ref> Between characters equal in age or rank, {{lang|fr|vous}} was more common than {{lang|fr|tu}} as a singular address. However, {{lang|fr|tu}} was sometimes used to put a young man in his place, or to express temporary anger. There may also have been variation between Parisian use and that of other regions.

In the [[Middle French]] period, a relatively stable ''T–V'' distinction emerged. ''Vous'' was the ''V'' form used by upper-class speakers to address one another, while {{lang|fr|tu}} was the ''T'' form used among lower class speakers. Upper-class speakers could choose to use either ''T'' or ''V'' when addressing an inferior. Inferiors would normally use ''V'' to a superior. However, there was much variation; in 1596, [[Étienne Pasquier]] observed in his comprehensive survey {{lang|fr|Recherches de la France|italic=yes}} that the French sometimes used {{lang|fr|vous}} to inferiors as well as to superiors "{{lang|fr|selon la facilité de nos naturels}}" ("according to our natural tendencies"). In poetry, {{lang|fr|tu}} was often used to address kings or to speak to God.<ref>Fagyal et al. p. 268</ref>

==== German ====
In [[German language|German]], ''Du'' is only used as an informal pronoun. It is only addressed to persons that one knows well, like family members and friends. It is also most commonly used among peers as a sign of equality, especially among young people. In formal situations with strangers and acquaintances, ''Sie'' is used instead. "Ihr" was also used in formal situations; this was once the abundant usage, but it has completely fallen out of use. In the plural form, "ihr" is used as the "T" pronoun and "Sie" is used as the "V" pronoun; "Ihr" and "Sie" are capitalized when they are used as the "V" pronoun.

==== Scandinavian languages ====
{{further|Du-reformen}}
A ''T–V'' distinction was once widespread in the [[North Germanic languages]] but its use began rapidly declining in the second half of the 20th century,<ref name="icelandic">{{cite news|date=1999-10-29|title=Þéranir á meðal vor|publisher=[[Morgunblaðið]]|language=is|url=https://timarit.is/page/1949629#page/n1/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="BandleBraunmüller2002">{{cite book|author1=Oskar Bandle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6b7WwBC5tRAC&pg=PA1631|title=The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages|author2=Kurt Braunmüller|author3=Lennart Elmevik|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2002|isbn=978-3-11-017149-5|pages=1631–}}</ref> coinciding with the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s youth rebellion]].<ref name="BandleBraunmüller2002" /> The ''V'' variant has in practice completely disappeared from regular speech in [[Swedish language|Swedish]] spoken in Sweden{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}, Norwegian and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]].<ref name="icelandic" /> In [[Faroese language|Faroese]] and [[Finland Swedish]], however, it is still occasionally used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-1343312|title=Niandet är artigt eller nedlåtande – olika servicesvenska i Sverige och Finland|date=2018-11-08|access-date=2024-09-30}}</ref>

The use of the ''V'' variant in [[Danish language|Danish]] has declined dramatically, but as of 2023 not completely disappeared.<ref name="BandleBraunmüller2002" /> In Danish the ''T'' variant is "du" and the ''V'' variant is a capitalized "De".<ref name="BandleBraunmüller2002" />

Swedish both had a ''V''-variant of "you" and an even more formal manner of addressing people, which was to address them in the [[Third person (grammar)|third person]] ("Could I ask Mr. Johnson to...").<ref name="icelandic" />

==== Hindi-Urdu ====
[[Hindi]]-[[Urdu]] ([[Hindustani grammar|Hindustani]]) have three levels of formality distinction. The pronoun तू تو (tū) is the informal (intimate) pronoun, तुम تم (tum) is the familiar pronoun and आप آپ (āp) is the formal pronoun. Tū is only used in certain contexts in Urdu, as in normal conversation, the use of tū is considered very rude. The pronoun तू تو (tū) is grammatically singular while the pronouns तुम تم (tum) and आप آپ (āp) are grammatically plural. However, the plural pronouns are more commonly used as singular pronouns and to explicitly mark the plurality, words such as लोग لوگ (log) [people], सब سب (sab) [all], दोनों دونوں (donõ) [both], तीनों تینوں (tīnõ) [all three] etc. are added after the plural pronouns.<ref>First-Year Hindi Course (Part one), H.H. Van Olphen (page 30-32)

https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/46086/First_Year_Hindi_Course-Part_1.pdf?sequence=2</ref>

In the [[Western Hindi]] dialects, a fourth level of formality (semi-formal), which is intermediate between आप آپ (āp) and तुम تم (tum), is created when the pronoun आप آپ (āp) is used with the conjugations of तुम تم (tum). However, this form is strictly dialectal and is not used in standard versions of Urdu and Hindi.

=== Use of names ===
The boundaries between formal and informal language differ from language to language, as well as within social groups of the speakers of a given language. In some circumstances, it is not unusual to call other people by first name and the respectful form, or last name and familiar form. For example, German teachers used to use the former construct with upper-secondary students, while Italian teachers typically use the latter (switching to a full V-form with university students). This can lead to constructions denoting an intermediate level of formality in T–V-distinct languages that sound awkward to English-speakers. In Italian, {{lang|it|(Signor) Vincenzo Rossi}} can be addressed with the {{lang|it|tu}} (familiar) form or the {{lang|it|Lei}} (formal) one, but complete addresses range from {{lang|it|Tu, Vincenzo}} (peer to peer or family) and {{lang|it|Tu, Rossi}} (teacher to high-school student, as stated above) to {{lang|it|Lei, signor Vincenzo}} (live-in servant to master or master's son) and {{lang|it|Lei, Rossi}} (senior staff member to junior) and {{lang|it|Lei, signor Rossi}} (among peers and to seniors).{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}