Editing Indexicality (section)

=====T/V deference entitlement=====
The [[T–V distinction|T/V deference entitlement system]] of [[European languages]] was famously detailed by linguists Brown and Gilman.<ref name=BrownGilman /> T/V deference entitlement is a system by which a speaker/addressee speech event is determined by perceived disparities of 'power' and 'solidarity' between interlocutors. Brown and Gilman organized the possible relationships between the speaker and the addressee into six categories:
# Superior and solidary
# Superior and not solidary
# Equal and solidary
# Equal and not solidary
# Inferior and solidary
# Inferior and not solidary
The 'power semantic' indicates that the speaker in a superior position uses T and the speaker in an inferior position uses V. The 'solidarity semantic' indicates that speakers use T for close relationships and V for more formal relationships. These two principles conflict in categories 2 and 5, allowing either T or V in those cases:
# Superior and solidary: T
# Superior and not solidary: T/V
# Equal and solidary: T
# Equal and not solidary: V
# Inferior and solidary: T/V
# Inferior and not solidary: V
Brown and Gilman observed that as the solidarity semantic becomes more important than the power semantic in various cultures, the proportion of T to V use in the two ambiguous categories changes accordingly.

Silverstein comments that while exhibiting a basic level of first-order indexicality, the T/V system also employs second-order indexicality vis-à-vis 'enregistered honorification'.<ref name=indexicalorder /> He cites that the V form can also function as an index of valued "public" register and the standards of good behavior that are entailed by use of V forms over T forms in public contexts. Therefore, people will use T/V deference [[entailment]] in 1) a first-order indexical sense that distinguishes between speaker/addressee interpersonal values of 'power' and 'solidarity' and 2) a second-order indexical sense that indexes an interlocutor's inherent "honor" or social merit in employing V forms over T forms in public contexts.