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--- Anton Sherwood skrzypszy:
> Let's not forget German `Sie' and Italian `Lei', both literally `She',
> presumably also meaning Your Abstraction (a feminine noun).
If I am not completely mistaken, German "Sie" is not the feminine singular
pronoun, but the MFN plural. That is also why the following verb always is in
the third person plural.
Before "Sie" came in use, "ihr" (2rd person plural) was used as a polite form,
exactly the same as French "vous" and Russian "wy".
Other languages that use a third person singular:
Dutch ("u"), although it is more and more often followed by a verb in the 2nd
person singular;
Polish ("pan/pani") (lit. Mr./Mrs., Lord/Lady).
Jan
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"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones
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