Editing T–V distinction (section)

==== 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>