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there is no word for familiarity arising from the word tu (in Malay)
French has the verbs (and nouns from them) tutoyer and vouvoyer which mean using the familiar and polite forms of "you". So children might be instructed to "vouvoyer" a distant uncle, or acquaintances might agree they have known each other long enough to "tutoyer" each other.
I will have to look at my reference books to see if any other languages in my pile have a third person polite form. I am fairly sure French doesn't (which is where someone pops up with an obscure french dialect and proves me wrong).
The other point of interest is the common use of the word "tu" for "you" in Malay and French (and other languages in variation). Is this an example of an "early" word surviving all this time?
Rod
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