Du rotziger Blasebalckemacherischer Dieb! Solst du mich dutzen?“ – Funktionen des Personalpronomens du in Gryphius’ „Peter Squentz

This paper examines the variations and functions of the deictic address pronoun du (you) in the satirical Baroque drama “Absurda Comica. Oder Herr Peter Sequentz” written by Andreas Gryphius. Two types of address forms dominate in the drama, which vary in a highly systematic way. The most common one is the honorific form ihr ‘you’, which appears in addresses to humans of equal social status among both craftsmen and nobles. The more intimate pronoun du mainly occurs when the characters address themselves, their body parts or feelings and deities. Even lovers use the polite pronoun ihr; they switch to du solely when the beloved one is either absent or dead. In addition, there is a switch to du when the characters get into a quarrel, which illustrates the well-known connection of address pronouns to the expression of social deixis and politeness as well as the local, context-sensitive mechanisms of pronoun choice. Finally, generic uses of du are restricted to proverbs in the drama.