Politeness in Using Banjarese and American English Personal Subject Pronouns by English Department Students of Lambung Mangkurat University

Abstract

This research is aimed at describing the use of personal pronouns of Banjarese and American English.The research uses the Convergent Parallel Design. Data are collected by using two kinds of questionnaires. The first is for 37 students belonging to Banjar Kuala Dialect (BKD), and the second is for 24 students belonging to Banjar Hulu Dialect (BHD). Research result shows that Banjarese and American English’ pronouns are based on singular and plural distinction although Banjarese does not have a gender distinction as in the American English. The personal pronouns are the first, second and third persons. English personal pronouns depend mostly on the grammatical role while Banjarese personal pronouns can indicate the social status or the relation of the speaker and other persons in the discourse. Personal pronouns can reveal the social status, and they can the politeness or impoliteness of the speakers.