Honorifique

Honorifique is a term used in linguistics to describe forms of speech and address that convey respect, deference, or social hierarchy. It covers a range of devices, including titles, pronouns, and verb or adjective forms, whose main function is to signal politeness or social distance rather than literal meaning.

In its usage, honorifics help speakers manage relationships between speakers and addressees, such as indicating formality, age, rank, or familiarity. English primarily uses honorifics as pre-nominal titles (Mr., Mrs., Dr., Sir), while many other languages encode politeness more richly through morphology and vocabulary. Japanese, for example, employs name-suffixes and special verb forms to reflect levels of respect; Korean uses dedicated speech levels and honorific endings; many languages combine lexical titles with grammatical markers to express social relations.

Types of honorifics can be broadly categorized as lexical, pronominal, verbal, or circumstantial. Lexical honorifics include formal titles; pronominal honorifics refer to respectful pronouns or forms of address; verbal honorifics involve verb conjugations or endings that indicate politeness. Circumstantial or discourse-based honorifics may appear in choices of pronouns, kinship terms, or forms of address appropriate to the context.

Usage of honorifics varies across cultures and contexts, and errors in their use can be perceived as disrespectful. They are a key element of sociolinguistic systems that structure interaction, power, and social identity.

See also: forms of address, politeness, sociolinguistics, language and society.