Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки (Dec 2015)
Observations on Byzantine Epistolary Ceremonial: Pluralis Modestiae and Pluralis Reverentiae
Abstract
The analysis of the Byzantine epistolary ceremonial is an important task of Byzantine studies. The author considers one aspect of the topic, attempting to reveal the recurrence and situations of the use of plural forms instead of singular ones — the 1st person plural for self-designation, and the 2nd person plural for the designation of the addressee. Mainly, the author focuses on the so-called pluralis modestiae and pluralis reverentiae. He analyzes four 12th century letter collections. It is demonstrated that the 1st person plural for self-designation was extensively used and its different meanings cannot be reduced to pluralis modestiae; the 2nd person plural for the designation of the addressee was almost never used.
