... The fact that BH under this account has a uniquely grammaticalised functional opposition in the first-person pronouns---whether this be one of politeness as in his first account in his article or one of (non-)immediacy under his second in his monograph---is extremely questionable.Well, the fact remains that there is a distinction in the first person pronouns. It is the explanation which is perhaps questionable. But are there any other languages which make such a distinction for any purpose? If not, then by your argument any explanation is a priori "extremely questionable". Nevertheless, the fact remains, and there must be some explanation of it.
... Helmbrecht demonstrates that the grammaticalisation of politeness distinctions in the first-person is from a number of options: nouns denoting "servant" and "slave" etc (Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Turkish); ...
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