Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

v-form

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.87 in modern English

Syllables: v--form
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A second-person pronoun used in formal situations, to address unfamiliar people and superiors.

Example Sentences

"In the Erzin dialect, children address their parents with the V-form; to use the T-form would show a lack of respect for parents."
"But cross-linguistically one finds that plural pronouns are predominant for the V-form. Again, there may well be a universal here that a plural address implies respect and that the singular pronoun implies a personal, i.e. intimate type of address."
"Typically, the informal pronominal address term (T-form) is the original second-person pronoun (Latin tu; Germanic du) and the polite or formal V-form is a plural form."
"... in March 2010 Ikea's Swiss website in German, French and Italian used the V-form except when addressing prospective job applicants."

Etymology

From the first letter of the second-person plural pronoun in Romance languages; ultimately from Latin vos.

Inflected Forms

V-forms (plural) V form (alternative)

Antonyms

T-form

Questions

What does v-form mean?: A second-person pronoun used in formal situations, to address unfamiliar people and superiors.
Where does v-form come from?: From the first letter of the second-person plural pronoun in Romance languages; ultimately from Latin vos.

How to pronounce v-form

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