Talk:您

Origin
When in Chinese history did this character originate? Is it a newer one, like the female version of "ta"? 71.66.97.228 21:07, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
 * It's 你 (ni) + Altaic genitive -yın/yin, -ün/un. The character was not listed in Sui/Tang rhyme books. First attested in Jin/Yuan-era novels, when it was also written as 恁 (original MC pron. ȵʑǐĕm), and occurred predominantly in attributive environments, forming complementary distribution with 你 in other cases. Originally, 您 was a pronoun for both 2nd sg. and 2nd pl., and 你每 (> 你们) was an (equilibrating) disyllabic version of 您, which retains the -m syllable coda of 您 disappearing in Mandarin. Later, in Beijing dialect, -们 was restricted to purely a plural suffix, and 您 restricted to purely a 2nd sg. honorific pronoun, although the 2nd pl. hon. 您们 is still considered ungrammatical. The plural sense of 您 is retained in Tianjin dialect (as in 您了先聊，我到外头溜达溜达. "Please continue your conversation, I'll just be having a walk outside.") and in Min 恁. Wjcd 01:55, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Wow, amazing info. You must have fantastic sources, look-up abilities, or basic knowledge, or all three. Can you add that to the entry? BTW, is that a heart at the bottom of the character (symbolizing emotion)? 71.66.97.228 06:24, 7 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Yes: 您 = 心上人是你. :D Wjcd 06:37, 7 February 2011 (UTC)