Introducing English Linguistics

social distance
separates them. 
Dear John,
A day of hectic activity.  Julie and I took Emily and her 2 boys who are
aged 5 and nearly 3 swimming this morning ... 
(ICE-GB W1B-008 034)
Social distance specifies the extent to which individuals have a close or a
more distant relationship. Although the notions of social distance and
power relationships are related – disparates, for instance, tend to be more
socially distant from one another than equals – the categories are never-
theless distinct. While all communicants will be either equals or disparates,
some may be intimates as well. Intimates are individuals between whom
there is little social distance: children and parents, spouses, partners, close
friends, and so forth. Intimates can be either equals or disparates. For
instance, parents are higher on the power hierarchy than children; spouses
could be either equals or disparates, depending upon whether a power
imbalance exists between them. Whether individuals are intimates will
affect the way they communicate as well. Close intimates will often use
terms of endearment:
Oh honey I miss you 
(SBCSAE)
How are you my little-one? 
(ICE-GB W1B-001 043)
Come here sweetheart. 
(BNC GYD 93)
Could I beg your indulgence, my dear?
(SBCSAE)
Their topics of conversation will vary too. Intimates are more likely to talk
about family, health issues, and problems than non-intimates. The con-
versation below, for instance, would only occur between intimates, since
it deals with very personal topics: familial problems, suicide, divorce and
remarriage.
Speaker C: Is that why he changed his name because he was going to be
picked on?
Speaker A: Yeah ... because of his name but also because just the kind of
person he is; he’s just a, he’s a very unhappy kid
Speaker B: Well, Susan got remarried and they moved and all the stuff
was happening 
Speaker A: Then his father committed suicide
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INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

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Speaker B: Yeah, so they figured this would be a good thing for him to
kind of like have a new start for himself; he can go to his new
school but it didn’t work 
Speaker A: He still got picked on
(SBCSAE)
As the social distance between speakers increases, the greater the
requirement for polite usage of language: calling one’s boss sweetheart, for
instance, is likely to be perceived as highly inappropriate and impolite,
unless the boss and employee know each other well and over time have
developed a close relationship.
It is clear that the words people use and the topics they discuss are in
large part determined by their social relationships: whether they are dis-
parates, equals, or intimates. However, in many languages, these relation-
ships affect the choice of second person pronouns as well: the so-called T/V
distinction. This distinction is named after the pronouns tu and  vous in
French, which are used in, respectively, informal and formal contexts: tu
when there is less social distance between speakers, vous when there is
greater social distance. English, however, makes no such distinction: the
pronoun you is used in all contexts, regardless of the power relationships
existing between speakers or their social distance. At one time in its his-
tory, English did make the distinction. As Blake (1992: 536) notes,
although usage was inconsistent, during the Middle English period, thou
and  thee  were used to denote “intimacy or contempt,” while ye and  you
“were neutral and polite.” By early Modern English, the distinction was no
longer made, making English one of the only Indo-European languages
lacking an informal and formal second person pronoun.