iberiul-kavkasiuri enaTmecniereba XXXIX

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f. afxaiZe
We distinguish the following II personal pronouns in Spoken Sinhala. They are
as follows:
oyā - “you”(sg). It has polite meaning: “you”. In its plural form the number
category is marked by adding suffix –la: oyāla.
oyā - has polite meaning when it is used in addressing by socially equal people.
However, it can be used in addressing by socially higher people to socially lowers but
not conversely. In case of unequal socio levels of society, etiquette rules must be
maintained. In Sinhala etiquette differences aren’t shown by morpho-syntactic and
lexical phrases as in English but according to the social status of the person who is
addressed. Other socio differences based on socio ranks, age, caste, etc., are also
significant. For example, oyā form mustn’t be used in addressing by student to
his/her lecturer, pupil to a teacher, employee to - an employer, or a lower caste
representative to - a higher cast representative. If these rules are broken then “ an
impolite meaning: “you” will be expressed.
umˇbə - “you”( sg). It has over familiar meaning. According to Geiger, it is an
old form; seems to be derived from MInd: umˇbə