Work was hectic this week - didn't get around to the forum much!
So sorry about the initial confusion, I just realized there is actually no written distinction in English that I was getting at.
I'm trying to translate a book from English to my native language, Serbian.
The problem I have is that here we use the formal You (Vi; and we also capitalize it), when talking to an elder, teacher, or anyone we respect.
We use the informal you (ti; not capitalized), when talking to our peers, friends, etc.
I was wondering how people talked to each other back then: I was always under the impression that people never addressed anyone outside their families with the informal you (ti).
Does my question make any sense now?
I just found your post now, and I sort of thought that might be what you were trying to ask.
English is a bit of a stinker that way, because the clues are more contextual than linguistic. In much older English (think Shakespeare's time and before), there
was a differentiation:
you vs.
thou, but that was well-lost by the 18th century if not a good bit earlier.
By the time we get to 1913, there is absolutely
no linguistic you/you distinction for English, in the sense that other Latin-based languages such as French or Spanish retain one. What happens is more subtle. For instance, a person in London at that period is very aware of his class. If he's a chimney sweep speaking to a Duke, he'll use address him as "Yer Grace," and even if his Cockney English is rather mangled, compared to standard English, he'll present himself in the most polished way he knows to use, perhaps bowing and dusting his hat. On the other hand, if he's an anarchist chimney sweep, he may turn to crudely abusive street language, "Yer Fanciness," etc.
A young person of middle or upper classes wishing to behave respectfully to a parent or a stranger would use standard English in a restrained way; would not use slang or profane words, would be attentive to the other person's comfort; and especially would take care not to ask intrusive questions or presume upon the other's goodwill. But: those are all behavioral and contextual cues.
Essentially, you are going to run into a translation problem, because you're asking English to do something in Serbian that English doesn't do. In this case, I suggest, because it would seem very strange to your Serbian readers if the chimney sweep addressed the Duke as
ti, that you try to assign distinctions based upon class and the older you/thou forms. That is: a person who is older/of higher position and/or significantly more wealthy is assigned all "you" forms, whereas someone who is younger/inferior/equal is assigned "thou" forms. And then include a note for your readers stating that this is a distinction which, while demonstrated culturally in other ways, does not exist in written or spoken English either today or in the early-20th century.
Does that help?