Forms of address in Themiclesia

Forms of address in Themiclesia convey the speaker's attitude and relationship with the addressed. Themiclesian culture dictates that whenever a form of address is available, addressing another by name is to be avoided and may be perceived as insulting.

Abbreviations

• The Honourable: The Hon.
• The Right Honourable: The Rt. Hon.

General comments

Many forms of address are not direct renderings of Shinasthana terms but phrases adopted from Casaterran languages and used specifically in those languages.

For historical reasons, the imperial house and the ducal houses of Themiclesia are considered similar in rank, since the imperial house is also a ducal house in origin and is structured in the same way. That is, ducal houses were (at least modelled) as sovereign houses, while baronial houses were vassal houses. With the development of the hegemonic system, the ducal house of Tsinh has assumed a position higher than that of the others but did not change its nomenclature. A number of special forms of address are reserved to the imperial house in Shinasthana as well as in the Casaterran languages.

The style of Majesty is used only by monarchs and their spouses. Thus, if a monarch's mother is not the previous monarch's spouse, she is not entitled to the style of Majesty as she did not reign as Empress-consort. This situation occurred at the ascension of Emperor Q'in' in 1921, as he was a second cousin to his predecessor Emperor Gwai; the latter's spouse became Empress-dowager and was styled Majesty, while Q'in's biological mother was known as the Most Gracious Duchess and styled Imperial Highness.

Aside from the reigning monarch and their spouse, the imperial and ducal houses were usually known by the Casaterran style of Highness and its variations.

• The Emperor's heir apparent and their spouse are Imperial Highnesses
• The Emperor's other children and their spouses are Highnesses
• The Emperor's grandchildren and their spouses are also Highnesses

In the ducal houses, a similar paradigm is implemented. The sitting duke or duchess and their spouse are Serene Highnesses.

• A duke or duchess's heir apparent and their spouse are Illustrious Highnesses
• A duke's other children and their spouses are Highnesses

In terms of the seniority of the styles, Majesty is the most senior. Amongst the highnesses, the variety used by the Chancellor, Most Serene Highness, is the most senior. Most Serene Highness outranks and is followed by Imperial Highness. Serene Highness is junior to Imperial Highness, and Illustrious Highness is junior to Serene Highness. Unqualified Highnesses are the lowest rank amongst the highnesses.

Royalty

Imperial household

Note that prets-gra′, though translating and translated by Majesty, is used only for the sovereign and foreign sovereigns. The Empress-consort is not prets-gra′, even though she enjoys the style of Majesty in Anglian, mutandis mutatis for former sovereigns' consorts. On envelopes, senior royals including the sovereign, consort, former sovereigns' consorts, the heir apparent, and the heir apparent's consort, are indicated by their respective palaces. The envelope address of Most Gracious Duchess means the current sovereign's biological mother, if a person other than the former sovereign's consort.

Other members of the royal family are addressed solely as Prince/Princess X if they do not have their own titular households; they do not need to be further specified as to their actual addresses. While Themiclesian monarchs have practiced concubinage up to the reign of Emperor Ngars (to 1849), they are never addressed by the palaces in which they actually live, as they are not the titular owners of the palaces. Rather, they take a title by courtesy of their fathers, who always possess a title of nobility.

Position	Reference style	On envelopes	Salutation	Oral style
Emperor	His Majesty	Q'in-lang Palace	Your Majesty	Your Majesty initially, then Sir
Empress-consort	Her Majesty	Middle Palace		Your Majesty initially, then Madam
Empress-dowager		Gweng-qlunh Palace
Empress-mother	Her Imperial Highness	Most Gracious Duchess	Your Imperial Highness	Your Imperial Highness initially, then Madam
Prince of Themiclesia	His Imperial Highness	West Palace		Your Imperial Highness initially, then Sir
Prince-consort of Themiclesia	Her Imperial Highness	Lan-ning Hall, West Palace		Your Imperial Highness initially, then Madam
Emperor's children	His/Her Highness	The Prince(ss) Name	Your Highness	Your Highness initially, then Sir/Madam
Emperor's children's consorts		Prince(ss) Name
Emperor's grandchildren		The Prince(ss) Name
Emperor's grandchildren's consorts		Prince(ss) Name
Emperor's great-grandchildren	The Prince(ss) Name		Dear Prince(ss)	Sir/Madam
Emperor's great-grandchildren's consorts	Prince(ss) Name
Emperor's great-great-grandchildren	The Prince(ss) Name
Emperor's great-great-grandchildren's consorts	Prince(ss) Name

Titles in appanage

Position	On envelopes		Salutation		Oral style
	Anglian	Shinasthana	Anglian	Shinasthana	Anglian	Shinasthana
Royal Prince	The Prince of X	某子	Noble Prince of X	某子閣下	My lord	君
Royal Prince's wife	The Princess Consort of X	某子氏	Noble Princess Consort of X	某氏閣下	My lady	君
Royal Princess	The Princess of X	某婦	Noble Princess of X	某婦閣下	My lady	君
Royal Princess's husband	The Prince Consort Name of X	某婦君某	Noble Prince Consort of X	某婦君閣下	My lord	君

Nobility

Dukes, princes palatine, and heirs apparent

Dukes were entitled to the style of Highness and its variations. The duke or duchess and their consort was entitled to the superior style of Serene Highness, while their heir apparent and their consort were called Illustrious Highness. Other immediate children of a duke or duchess were styled Highness. It should be noted there is a parallelism with the distribution of styles in the imperial family—the heir there was an Imperial Highness, while the other imperial princes were only Hignesses.

The highest variation of Higness—Most Serene Highness—was only used by the Chancellor of Themiclesia, who in the middle ages was considered to rank above all dukes by virtue of office. After he stepped down from office, however, he enjoys the style of Serene Highness even if he does not hold a ducal title. As a result, the Chancellor's children do not enjoy titles by virtue of his office.

Position	Reference style	Salutation and valediction	Oral style
Duke / duchess	His Serene Highness The Duke / Duchess of Ra	Your Serene Highness	Your Serene Highness initially, then Sir
Duke's wife	Her Serene Highness Lady Maiden name, Duchess of Ra		Your Serene Highness initially, then Madam
Duchess's husband	His Serene Highness Lord Name of Ra		Your Serene Highness initially, then Sir
Ducal Prince	His Illustrious Highness The Ducal Prince of Ra	Your Illustrious Highness	Your Illustrious Highness initially, then Sir
Ducal Princess	Her Illustrious Highness The Ducal Princess of Ra		Your Illustrious Highness initially, then Madam
Ducal Prince's wife	Her Illustrious Higness Lady Maiden name, Princess of Ra		Your Illustrious Highness initially, then Madam
Ducal Princess's husband	His Illustrious Higness Lord Name, Prince of Ra		Your Illustrious Highness initially, then Sir

Second-eldest sons of dukes/duchesses

In Themiclesian custom, it is usual to create a duke/duchess's second-eldest son as Chief Baron under that duke/duchess and to address them as such, regardless whether an actual appointment has been made. This practice is reserved for second sons, even if the second son is not the second child to be born to his parents; thus, while the ducal title can pass to a daughter who is the eldest child, it is not the current custom to create a second child who is a daughter as a Chief Baronness.

Unless the title has been formally granted, the children of the Chief Baron take their titles as grandchildren of the duke/duchess.

Position	Reference style	Salutation	Oral style
Duke/duchess's second-eldest son	Chief Baron X, Prince of Ra	Your Highness	Your Highness initially, then Sir
His wife	Lady Y, Princess of Ra	Your Highness	Your Highness initially, then Madam

Other children of dukes/duchesses

As with the royal family, there is no gender distinction in Shinasthana between the sons and daughters of dukes/duchesses, though it is made in Anglian following international customs.

Position	Reference style	Salutation and valediction	Oral style
Duke / duchess's other sons	His Higness Lord Name, Prince of Ra	Your Highness	Your Highness initially, then Sir
Duke / duchess's other daughters	Her Higness Lady Name, Princess of Ra		Your Highness initially, then Madam

Barons and baronets and their heirs apparent

Barons and baronets originated as vassals to their lords, barons colonizing land and supplying military forces and baronets providing other kinds of services; however, they have been created as political rewards since the medieval period, giving title-holders economic benefit but little automatic influence in the royal court. As a Themiclesian barony was originally colonial, it remained a rule to be attached to a specific piece of land; baronets were sometimes created with baronies on a specific piece of land, but other times they were created with "virtual baronies", an fictitious place under which guise the government provide the holder with income. Consequently, a baron's title will always be a toponym (邦名), but a baronet's title will sometimes be only a term of praise (號).

Position	On envelopes		Salutation and valediction		Oral style
	Anglian	Shinasthana	Anglian	Shinasthana	Anglian	Shinasthana
Baron/Baronness	The Baron/Baronness of Ra	魯侯	Your lordship/ladyship	魯侯閣下	My lord/lady baron/baronness	侯君
Baron's wife	The Baronness of Ra	魯夫人	Your ladyship	魯夫人閣下	My lady	君夫人
Baronness's husband	Lord Name	魯君某	Your lordship	魯君某閣下	My lord	君
Baron/Baronness's heir apparent	The Hon. Mr. Name	魯帝子某	Dear Mr. Name	魯世子左右	Sir	君
Baron/Baronness's heir apparent's wife	The Hon. Mrs. Name	魯某氏	Dear Miss Name	魯某氏閣下	Madam	君
Baronet/Baronetess (landed)	The Baronet of Ra	魯君	Your lordship/ladyship	魯君閣下	My lord/lady baronet/baronetess	君
Baronet/Baronetess (not landed)	Lord Krar	嘉君	Your lordship/ladyship	魯君閣下	My lord/lady baronet/baronetess	君
Baronet's wife	The Baronness of Ra	魯君夫人	Your ladyship	魯君夫人閣下	My lady	君夫人
Baronetess's husband	Lord Name	魯君某	Your lordship	魯君某閣下	My lord	君
Baronet/Baronetess's heir apparent	The Hon. Mr. Name	魯君帝子某	Dear Mr. Name	魯君世子左右	Sir	君
Baronet/Baronetess's heir apparent's wife	The Hon. Mrs. Name	魯君某氏	Dear Miss Name	魯某氏閣下	Madam	君

Other children of barons and baronets

Position	On envelopes		Salutation and valediction		Oral style
	Anglian	Shinasthana	Anglian	Shinasthana	Anglian	Shinasthana
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's son and daughter unmarried	The Hon. Mr./Miss Name	魯庶子某	Dear Sir/Madam	庶子左右	Sir/Madam	君子
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's daughter married	Dame Name of Ra	魯婦某	Madam	魯婦氏左右	Madam	君婦氏
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's son's wife	The Hon. Mrs. Ra	魯庶子婦某	Madam	魯婦左右	Madam	君婦氏
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's daughter's husband	The Hon. Mr. Name	魯士某	Dear Mr. Name	魯士足下	Sir	君士
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's grandson and granddaughter unmarried	The Hon. Mr./Miss Name	魯庶孫某	Dear Miss Name	庶孫足下	Sir/Madam	君孫
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's granddaughter married	The Hon. Mrs. Name of Ra	魯孫婦某	Dear Miss Name	魯孫婦氏足下	Madam	君婦氏
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's grandson's wife	The Hon. Mrs. Maiden name of Ra	魯庶孫婦某	Madam	庶孫婦足下	Madam	君婦氏
Baron/Baronness/Baronet/Baronetess's granddaughter's husband	The Hon. Mr. Name	士某	Dear Mr. Name	魯士足下	Sir	君士

Judiciary

Judges

Position	On envelopes	Salutation and valediction	Oral style
Lord President of the Appellate Committee	Lord President of the Appellate Committee	Your Lordship	Great lord
Chief Justice of Appeal	Lord Chief Justice of Appeal	Your Ladyship	Great lady
Chief Justice of Themiclesia	Lord Chief Justice of Themiclesia	Your Ladyship	Great lady
Chief Baron of the Exchequer of Themiclesia	Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer of Themiclesia	Your Ladyship	Great lady
Chief Baron of the Admiralty	Lord Chief Baron of the Admiralty	Your Ladyship	Great lady
Chief Judge for the Correction of Marshal's Errors	Chief Judge for the Correction of Marshal's Errors	Your Ladyship	Great lady
Chief Judge in Error for the Marine	Chief Judge in Error for the Marine	Your Ladyship	Great lady
Lord of Appeal	Lady Kem, Chief Baronness of Ra	Your Ladyship	Great lady

Government

Position	Reference style	On envelopes	Salutation and valediction	Oral style
Chancellor of Themiclesia	Her Most Serene Highness	The Chancery	Your Most Serene Highness	Your Most Serene Highness initially, then Sir
Premier Vice Chancellor	His Illustrious Highness	The Vice-Chancery	Your Illustrious Highness	Your Illustrious Highness initially, then Sir
Secretaries of State	The Council of Correspondence	Dear Mr.	Mr. Name
Principal Counsels	The Office of Office	Dear Mr.	Mr. Name

Military

Army and Air Force

• In the Consolidated Army, Themiclesian Air Force, and other land units, commissioned ranks above captain may be used socially, such that in ordinary conversation an officer may be called Captain Lup. The ranks lieutenant and second lieutenant are not used socially, so their holders are addressed as Mr. Lup. This practice exists because historically gentlemen (who have the courtesy title Mister) always joined the military as commissioned officers, so a Mister by default refers to the most junior commissioned officer, i.e. lieutenants. Petty officers and enlisted men take the courtesy title Mister in conversation.
• The rank of colonel is considered special as it was, for a long time, the highest military rank during peacetime, together with the somewhat nebulous rank of colonel-general. It is de rigueur to address a colonel-general who is not a general in his own right as Colonel Lup, but if a colonel-general is so deemed, it is correct to treat him as a general. Thus, the colonels-general of the Gentlemen of the Horse and the Capital Artillery are addressed as Colonel Lup, but the colonels-general of the Royal Signals Corps and the South Army are General Lup.
• A general officer of any rank is addressed socially as General Lup. If a generalship is created by Parliament, the socially correct form of address on envelopes in written reference is The General Lup; if a staff general, the definite article is not used. A parliamentary generalship most frequently existed as heads of military campaigns and thus exist only during wartime, while staff generals may be appointed in peacetime. After the Pan-Septentrion War, this distinction has blurred in the armed forces but remains in force according to widely-published style guides.
• The ranks brigadier and above may be retained and used socially after resignation of commission.
• The office of prefectural marshal may be used socially and carries the honourary rank of colonel after resignation.
• Patrons of the Hundred Companies created raised between 1871 and 1875 have the honourary rank of captain.

Navy and Coast Guard

• In the Themiclesian Navy and Themiclesian Coast Guard, the ranks from commander and above may be used socially. Likewise, any rank under commander is not used socially, whose holders are addressed verbally as Mr. Lup. When it is necessary to distinguish two individuals who are both Mr. Lup, it is acceptable to prefix rank before the courtesy title Mister, e.g. Petty Officer Mr. Lup and Ensign Mr. Lup.
• An admiral of any rank is socially referred to as Admiral Lup, but in no case is the definite article used.
• The ranks captain and above may be retained and used socially after resignation of commission.
• The chief officer of a seagoing vessel, both military and civilian, is addressed as Captain Lup by courtesy of his crewmembers, regardless of actual military rank in case of a naval vessel.