Plexike
Member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2012
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Hungarian
- Home Country
- Hungary
- Current Location
- Hungary
Dear Everyone, I'm a college student from Hungary, I study English, and as this is my last semester here I am writing my final thesis right now.
In one of the chapters of my thesis I am writing about how we Hungarians can express distance or familiarity, power or solidarity and politeness toward our partner in communication through our mother tongue and about the social rules that govern our choice from among those language elements and sentence structures that can express the mentioned factors.
In another chapter I would like to write about the same things in relation to the English language and the English people. And at the end I will discusse what are those things that only one of the two languages are capable of expressing and how. So the reason for why I'm writing here is that I would be really glad if you could help me with that.
So the Hungarian language is similar to the French and the German languages in a way that we have the so called 'T-V distinction' which means that we have two (actually three) personal pronouns that we can use to refer to the second person singular: 'te' = Fr. 'tu', Gr. 'du' and 'Ön'/('Maga') (Ön is more often used as it is more elegant) = Fr. 'Vous', Gr. 'Sie'.
'Te' denotes familiarity and solidarity while 'Ön' denotes distance, politeness or the power of the addressed.
I now that in English there was once such a distinction, too and I know that, too that today if someone call the other by his/her first name that means that they are in a close relationship.
I also know that for example the use of some auxiliaries like 'may' or 'could' is considered to be polite in some situations, but I would be really glad if you could write me some sentences or something which show that you and the person you are talking to do not know each other (and that there is distance between you).
What is it that makes somebody ask the others to call him/her by his/her first name?
If you knew the name of the new post-person or the new shop assistant would you call him/her by their first name? Or how would you call them?
I am interested in these and such things.
Thank you for your help in advance!
In one of the chapters of my thesis I am writing about how we Hungarians can express distance or familiarity, power or solidarity and politeness toward our partner in communication through our mother tongue and about the social rules that govern our choice from among those language elements and sentence structures that can express the mentioned factors.
In another chapter I would like to write about the same things in relation to the English language and the English people. And at the end I will discusse what are those things that only one of the two languages are capable of expressing and how. So the reason for why I'm writing here is that I would be really glad if you could help me with that.
So the Hungarian language is similar to the French and the German languages in a way that we have the so called 'T-V distinction' which means that we have two (actually three) personal pronouns that we can use to refer to the second person singular: 'te' = Fr. 'tu', Gr. 'du' and 'Ön'/('Maga') (Ön is more often used as it is more elegant) = Fr. 'Vous', Gr. 'Sie'.
'Te' denotes familiarity and solidarity while 'Ön' denotes distance, politeness or the power of the addressed.
I now that in English there was once such a distinction, too and I know that, too that today if someone call the other by his/her first name that means that they are in a close relationship.
I also know that for example the use of some auxiliaries like 'may' or 'could' is considered to be polite in some situations, but I would be really glad if you could write me some sentences or something which show that you and the person you are talking to do not know each other (and that there is distance between you).
What is it that makes somebody ask the others to call him/her by his/her first name?
If you knew the name of the new post-person or the new shop assistant would you call him/her by their first name? Or how would you call them?
I am interested in these and such things.
Thank you for your help in advance!