TY - JOUR AU - Loto, Praiwan PY - 2018/12/29 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The Honorific System in German as a Phenomenon of Courtesy: The Culturally Contrastive Analysis of Foreign Language Learning Exemplified through the Use of the Personal Pronouns Du and Sie by Thai German-learners at Chiang Mai University JF - Journal of Letters JA - J of LETT VL - 47 IS - 3 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jletters/article/view/158850 SP - 339-378 AB - <p>Honorifics are the grammatical encoding of (or by the upper) social rank or intimacy between speakers, listeners, and third parties (cf. Bußmann 2002, 284). Whereas the honorific system is present within Thai and German speech communities, the possibilities of structurally realizing courtesy and politeness in both languages vary. This study focuses on whether Thai German-learners use German personal pronouns “du” and “Sie” appropriately, which socio-cultural factors play roles in choosing German personal pronouns “du” and “Sie”, and which language interferences are present. This study observes that in various conversations Thai students majoring in German at Chiang Mai University were able to use personal pronouns following the rules of usage. However, difficulties occurred when conversational partners were different ages. Familiarity and intimacy between conversational partners did not play any decisive role in choosing between the personal pronouns “du” and “Sie”. Thai German-learners in the study considered the age and social status of their conversational partners the most important factors.</p> ER -