French honorifics
Encyclopedia
French honorifics include "Monsieur
" (written M. for short) for a man, "Madame" (Mme) for a married woman and "Mademoiselle" (Mlle) for an unmarried woman. Feminist movements are pushing for "Madame" being used for all women, on the basis that it would be sexist to have only one word for men, whether they're married or not, but two for women. However, calling a young woman "Mademoiselle" is usually considered more polite
due to their young age, and calling a middle-aged woman "Mademoiselle" can be a way to tell her that she looks like she's in her twenties and is therefore often considered flattering.
"Professeur" and "Docteur" are used for educated people who have an advanced diploma, although "Docteur" is commonly associated with medical practitioners, even though the word for "doctor" is "médecin".
"Maître" (literally, "Master") is used for lawyer
s, whereas judges are not called "Your Honour
" but simply "Monsieur le Juge" (Mister Judge). This does not change regardless of the sex of the lawyer or judge.
Any other honorific is usually created by using "Monsieur" or "Madame" and then adding a title or profession. For instance, "Monsieur le Président" or "Monsieur le Ministre".
Monsieur
' is an honorific title that used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It is also a customary French title of respect and term of address for a French-speaking man, corresponding to such English titles as Mr...
" (written M. for short) for a man, "Madame" (Mme) for a married woman and "Mademoiselle" (Mlle) for an unmarried woman. Feminist movements are pushing for "Madame" being used for all women, on the basis that it would be sexist to have only one word for men, whether they're married or not, but two for women. However, calling a young woman "Mademoiselle" is usually considered more polite
Polite
Polite may refer to:* Politeness* Polite architecture, or the polite: a form of building design which is aestheticly led and characterised by intentionally incorporated stylistic or romantic features...
due to their young age, and calling a middle-aged woman "Mademoiselle" can be a way to tell her that she looks like she's in her twenties and is therefore often considered flattering.
"Professeur" and "Docteur" are used for educated people who have an advanced diploma, although "Docteur" is commonly associated with medical practitioners, even though the word for "doctor" is "médecin".
"Maître" (literally, "Master") is used for lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s, whereas judges are not called "Your Honour
His Honour
His Honour or Her Honour is an honorific prefix which is traditionally applied to certain classes of people, in particular justices and judges and mayors...
" but simply "Monsieur le Juge" (Mister Judge). This does not change regardless of the sex of the lawyer or judge.
Any other honorific is usually created by using "Monsieur" or "Madame" and then adding a title or profession. For instance, "Monsieur le Président" or "Monsieur le Ministre".
See also
- Chinese honorificsChinese honorificsChinese honorifics were developed due to class consciousness and Confucian principles of order and respect in Ancient and Imperial China. The Chinese polite language also affects Japanese honorifics conceptually; both emphasized the idea of classes and in-group vs. out-group. So the language used...
- Korean honorificsKorean honorificsThe Korean language reflects the important observance of a speaker or writer's relationships with both the subject of the sentence and the audience. Korean grammar uses an extensive system of honorifics to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to...
- Japanese honorificsJapanese honorificsThe Japanese language has many honorifics, parts of speech which show respect, and their use is mandatory in many social situations. Honorifics in Japanese may be used to emphasize social distance or disparity in rank, or to emphasize social intimacy or similarity in rank.The system of honorifics...