What is superior status?

Definition
	Superior status is social deixis that encodes high status.

Examples (French, German)
	Some uses of the second person pronoun vous in French and Sie in German indicate the superior status of the addressee.

Source
	Brown, R. and Gilman 1960 256–257

Concept module: superior status
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): S
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004