--- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
wrote:

> --- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
> wrote:

> > Just a general question (I could ask a specific one about 1.sg.):
> >
> > Do you think there exist cases where pronouns or verbal endings
> were
> > loaned (except 'they', of course), or is it all inheritance?

2nd person pronouns may have foreign origins, once elablorate systems
such as those of Iberian Romance or the Far East take hold. For
example, in Thai the normal polite word for 'you' seems to be 'khun',
which comes from Sanskrit 'guNa' merit, value etc. I have seen it
used on TV in the phrase 'I love you', so I think it is very well
established. Dictionaries list it as the first translation of 'you'.

Thai is reported to occasionally use the English pronouns 'I'
and 'you', but I have never encountered this usage. Mind you, I've
only heard the ancient first person pronoun 'ku:' once - it's very
rude to use it.

I am not sure how relevant such complicated systems are to Nostratic;
we are presumably looking at people with simple social systems.

An Iranian Azebaijani told me that Azerbaijani man 'I' was a loan
from Farsi; Turkish for 'I' is van. I am not sure how true this
statement is - it may just be coincidence.

Richard.