MillMint -millmint
    NEW 📗Story: Sunday Morning ❌

    English Honourifics in Vekllei

    🔖
    Culture
    ←

    Part of the culture series of articles.

    Read more: Courtesy in Vekllei

    Although most modern Vekllei English is informal in tone, its social language remains rich in titles and forms of address. This is an endearing quirk of a country which otherwise is communal and egalitarian by Western standards. In general, titles are written with a period (e.g., Mrs. and Ms.), following the American style in a break from their British literary tradition.

    Since multiple titles may apply, they are generally respected in the following order, with subsequent forms of address replaced by more respected forms.

    Honourific Example Notes
    Professional Address Capt., Dr., P.M. Professional titles are generally life-long and are granted by professional accreditations or offices.
    Occupational Address Con., Dir., Dr. Occupational titles generally replace personal address, even among regular acquaintances.
    Personal Address Mr., Mrs., Ms. Subordinated to occupational titles.
    General Address Sir, Madam Default polite address; gendered but neutral in tone. The apparent occupation of a person often substitutes these general forms.

    In Vekllei, sir/madam forms the basis of general address for strangers.1 Vekllei is a heavily uniformed culture and it is common to intuit the occupation of a stranger, in which case you would address them by the occupation (i.e. Policeman, Butcher).

    Please note: Vekllei does not gender occupational titles. Policeman refers to both male and female constables, as does equivalents like chairman and postman.

    The written style of general forms of address include:

    Form Usage Notes
    Sir / Madam Used when addressing strangers, service staff, or correspondence with unknown recipients. ‘Madam’ is rarely abbreviated as ‘ma’am.’ Default polite address; gendered but neutral in tone.
    Mr. Used for men and boys within the community. Denotes familiarity without intimacy.
    Mrs. Used for married women within the community. The most traditional and still common form.
    Miss. Used for unmarried women or younger women. Sometimes replaced by Ms. for neutrality.
    Ms. Used for women regardless of marital status. Perfectly acceptable and widely used in Vekllei.
    Dr., Prof., Capt., etc. Used for professional and occupational address. Professional titles are used extensively and often preferred to gendered forms.

    In Vekllei communities, people refer to anyone they know – other than close friends – by a title and surname. Children are taught early to address adults as Mr. or Ms. followed by their family name, even outside formal settings.

    Professional occupations also have their own forms of address:

    Form Usage Notes
    Con. Constable, used for professionals with a police commission. Occupationl address overrules nonspecific gendered forms but is subordinated to professional address.
    Dir. Director, typically used for company heads and senior civil servants in Vekllei. Occupationl address overrules nonspecific gendered forms but is subordinated to professional address.
    Fr., Sr., etc. Father/Sister, used in religious contexts. Retains traditional use, especially in Kalina, Atlantic and Verde.

    1. In Vekllei, madam is not usually shortened to ma’am. ↩︎