#linguistic

So let the wheel decide your Japanese first-person pronoun

The emotional weight here comes from three things happening all at once:

He deliberately drops his military identity.

He returns to the exact identity he held when he first loved the prince.

He reminds the prince that a promise made by a servant still stands, surviving revolution, rank, and history.

For international viewers, it’s less like he's saying "Your Phob is here" and more like he's saying: "I’m still the exact same Phob who promised you eleven years ago."

1921: Palace servant

Let's look back at that gorgeous scene under the Dok Phuttan tree, when they're alone on the fallen petals right before the prince leaves for England. The prince is royalty (Phrabat), while Phob is just a servant. That moment is the first time we hear Phob refer to himself in an intentionally humble, rawly intimate way: "Ai Phob khong Phrabat." Literally: "The Phob who belongs to you." He promises right then that no matter what happens in the future, he will never change, and he will wait for him forever. (Side note: this is exactly why "18" by One Direction fits them flawlessly. The lyrics are literally them!)

The prefix ไอ้ (ai) is so fascinating. While it's normally rude, here it shifts completely. Used between childhood companions (or by someone of lower status speaking of himself affectionately) it becomes a term of raw, intimate self-deprecation. He's basically saying, "I'm just your idiot Phob."

Why does "Ai Phob" matter so much here?

Fast forward to 1932. He's no longer a powerless servant kneeling below him. He is Captain Phob, a French-educated artillery officer and one of the men who will help overthrow the absolute monarchy. He has every reason to abandon that past self, but he still chooses "Ai Phob." It's absolutely heartbreaking. He's saying: "Before I was a captain... before I was a revolutionary... before history rewrote us... I was your Phob. And I still am."

And think about when he says it. The prince is unconscious after taking a bullet for him, and Phob whispers: "Ai Phob khong Phrabat yu thi ni laeo" (ไอ้ภพของพระบาทอยู่ที่นี่แล้ว).

Literal translation: "Phrabat's Phob is here now."

Better translation: "That idiot Phob who promised to wait for you... he's here."

Ultimate emotional translation: "I'm here. I'm still your Phob."

It completely freezes time. For one sentence, the Revolution is forgotten. The prince isn't the King's secretary, Phob isn't a captain, they're just the prince and his palace servant.

Buuut, what makes this line so devastating is that, politically, everything has changed.

In 1921: "I'll always be Phrabat's Ai Phob."

In 1932: He's literally one of the officers dismantling the political world that gives meaning to the title Phrabat. Yet emotionally, nothing has changed.

So when he says, "Ai Phob khong Phrabat yuu thii nii laeo," he's essentially saying: "The Revolution will take my station. France changed my education. The army changed my rank. History will change our country. But none of it changed whose Phob I am."

'Gelynes' is the word you want for a woman. Interestingly, 'gelynddyn' would be the word for a man - 'gelyn' by itself is more like. The concept of The Enemy.

BUT you can also use gelyn as a generic word regardless of gender. Gelynes and gelynddyn are more for when you want to be Very Specific about the gender of this particular enemy.

Hi! Do you use nounpronouns (i.e. pronouns such as flower/flowerself or 🌸/🌸-self, stemming from a noun), aliuspronouns (such as xe/xir, which differ from the canonical pronouns she/he/they/it, and do not fall under the umbrella of nounpronouns), or both? Are you 18 years or older and would you like to add to the scientific/linguistic understanding we have of these types of pronouns?

With my current paper I attempt to gain more understanding as to why people use these pronouns, and in which contexts they are used! The survey won't take more than 15 minutes to complete, and can be done in your own time! 🥰

There are three different surveys:

Individuals who only use nounpronouns and not aliuspronouns, click here: https://uva.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eOSpls9MfrUeyaO

Individuals who only use aliuspronouns and not nounpronouns, click here: https://uva.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_82ZibuKreDmnIFM

Individuals who use both, click here: https://uva.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJSSRoCDKHRZZaK