Culture · 6 pages · 12 min

How forms of address encode rank

Titles, pronouns, and given names mark who stands where relative to whom.

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From the opening

A form of address encodes rank because the words you must use for someone, a title, a surname, a given name, or a special pronoun, display the relation you are allowed to claim. The grammar of greeting is social structure made obligatory in the sentence. The opening covers titles that hold a person at a distance, who may switch to a given name, and power and solidarity in pronouns.

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Inside

Titles that hold a person at a distance
Who may switch to a given name
Power and solidarity in pronouns
Asymmetry is the ranking made audible
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Pronouns of power and solidarity
Titles and asymmetric forms of address

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How forms of address encode rank

From the opening

Inside

Sources

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