Datapoint Diu Indo-Portuguese/Politeness distinctions in second-person pronouns

Just like in Indo-Aryan languages, speakers of Diu Indo-Portuguese often resort to titles and kinship terms such as the English loan uncle or Gujarati kaka 'uncle' as a means of avoiding second person pronouns when a polite form of address is required. However, as Example 44 shows, this avoidance strategy is not an absolute requirement.

Forms of address such as bai 'girl' or the English loan daddy are primarily used as vocatives (e.g. by children addressing their father, in the case of daddy) but not necessarily as replacement of second person pronouns.

Values

Titles used as second person forms

Example 39-43:
Nə saykəl uncle tiŋ vay.
Nə
loc
saykəl
bicycle
<uncle>
uncle
t-iŋ
ipfv-pst
vay.
go.inf
You (uncle) were going by bicycle.

Source: Cardoso 2009: 147

Example 39-44:
Use uki kɛr, uncle?
Use
2
uki
what
kɛr,
want.npst
<uncle>?
uncle
What do you want, uncle?

Source: Cardoso 2004-2008

Confidence:
Certain