Honorifics in Northern Kurmanji with Reference to English

Abstract

Honorifics are elements of language that can be represented by both lexical categories like nouns and functional categories like pronouns. They are respect, formality, and distance- related concepts and they have been of major concern to many sociolinguists and pragmatists. The current work is a pragmatic and sociolinguistic approach to honorifics in Northern Kurmanji/ Bahdinan area with reference to English. Data are collected from Waar TV. program ده‌نگێ گوندى The Voice of Village. Honorifics are identified and classified into categories; then they are explained. Data analysis shows that Northern Kurmanji does not achieve honorification morphologically, but rather lexically. Thus, it is a non- honorific language. Moreover, not only is the second-person plural pronoun used as an honorific, when addressing a single person, but also the first-person plural pronoun. Sometimes, the core function of honorifics is reversed to show disrespect in the context of irony.