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En réponse à Anton Sherwood :
Let's not forget German `Sie' and Italian `Lei', both literally `She', presumably also meaning Your Abstraction (a feminine noun). French is locally odd in lacking such a form.
Well, all the Iberian forms show that originally it was the 2nd person plural that marked politeness (Usted comes from "*vuestra* merced", not *"su merced"). French just stayed to that (the 3rd person was only ever used to talk to the King - or the Emperor when we had one :) -).
Christophe Grandsire. http://rainbow.conlang.free.frYou need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang.