12 Codes of ‘respect’

Now we need to go a little bit beyond Ayitham and go into the concept of ‘respect’.

When Englishmen speak of respect, it is one thing. When feudal language speakers mention the word ‘respect’, it is totally another thing.

In English, ‘respect’ is something of an emotion of appreciation. It can be connected to a person’s honesty, courage, courage of conviction, profundity, scholarship, goodness etc. This respect does not create any change in the words You, Your, Yours, He, His, Him, She, Her, Hers &c. It would not force the other person to get up in his presence, give him precedence over others, take a request from him as a command etc.

However, in feudal languages, the word ‘respect’ has nothing to do with any of the things mentioned above. It is generally reserved for social or positional seniors who can make things difficult for the other, if he or she does not get up in his or her presence, do not show adequate obeisance, do not unfold his Mundu or Kaili in his or her presence, do not suffix words of ‘respect’ to his or her name, do not use respectful words for You, Your, Yours etc. to him or her, and use higher words of He, His, Him, or She, Her, Hers when referring to him or her.

It is quite adequately clear that the word ‘respect’ in English has no connection to the word ‘respect’ in feudal languages. Here itself one can understand the problem with translating a feudal language scene into planar language English. What arrives in English has nothing to do with the realities of the feudal language. The translation stands as a tool for befooling English native-speakers.

Now to go further on the route of ‘respect’ in feudal languages, it should be understood that in feudal languages, when ‘respect’ is added to an addressing or referring, it is a clear message to everyone concerned that he or she is willing to abide by any command or order given by the ‘respected’ person. His or her very wishes are conceded as commands, that have to be implicitly obeyed. A minor tone of arguing it out can be deemed as disrespect. That is, it means, ‘I can’t do it’. Which in turn is a very powerful statement: ‘I do not respect you’.

This actually is another pitfall in English understanding of Oriental, African and certain Continental European social communication. Very simple conversations actually do contain powerful codes of command and obedience. Without having any information on this, it is a very futile and dangerous job to tackle Italian Mafia (of yesteryears), German planning, Asian underworld gangs, Oriental internecine warfare, African social strife, South American revolts and rebellions etc.

Without this information, native-English nations have been doing these very same foolish things for so many years.

Now, this ‘respect’ is an essential part of feudal language social communication. Unless two persons are totally unconnected persons, or persons of absolute equal-ness in job levels, professional status, age, financial acumen etc., almost all communication needs to have an infection of this one-side ‘respect’ and the other side ‘degradation’. However not many persons mind this. For, they are all used to this since their very childhood. If one person concedes his subordination in one location, he will seek out another person on whom he can dominate.

Yet, there is essentially an element of duplicity and cunningness in all relationships. In that unless one is so utterly downtrodden, in all cases of extending respect, other than in the case of family relationships, people incessantly seek a way to overthrow the mantle of domination of the other.

There is always a sly motive to act traitor or to demean the other, if one can get away with it. However, everyone is quite wary in how they manage it. They do it only if they feel they can get away with it, without the other person being able to know of it, or if the other person cannot do anything about it.

When a socially lowly man uses the lower grade indicant words to a person of deemed superior social status, it is simply proclaiming: I am your master. I can command you.

This is damnation of the highest order. The affected person, if he has no other defence to waylay this attack, is on his way to social suicide.

People are quite wary about how they interact with others. It is not easy to communicate in an easy manner as one would do in English. In English, nothing connected to a human being changes the You, He, His, She, Her, Hers etc. Even an abusive word cannot change these words.

From this understanding, it can be very well understood that the so-called ‘racism’ mentioned to exist in native-English nations is next to nothing. In fact, with all this ‘racism’ there, all Asians, African, South Americans and Continental Europeans would want to barge into English nations only.

In the case of feudal language societies, people would simply run off from locations where they fear a degrading in indicant words. Or they would turn homicidal.