Semantic and Pragmatic Analyses of Terms of Address in Taiwanese Southern Min

Abstract

According to Chao (1956:230) terms of address in Chinese fall into three categories: vocative terms, designative terms and learned terms. Vocative terms are terms of direct address. Designative terms are used to refer to third parties. Learned terms are often used in epistolary style and scientific description. The main concern of this paper is vocative terms and designative terms. This paper will also examine self-addressing terms that Chao does not deal with. These three types of terms of address are referred to collectively as colloquial terms of address. The theoretical framework of the present paper for the study of the use of terms of addresses in Taiwanese Southern Min (TSM for short) is based on theoretical approaches of previous studies on terms of address in modern Mandarin (Gu 1990:248-252) as well as principles of sociolinguistics (Holmes 1992:372-376). Building on earlier studies, this paper aims at fleshing out the semantic features of different types of terms of address and their characteristics in TSM. The pivotal consideration is the speech event that takes place between speaker and hearer. I will then compare the differences in the use of terms of address between TSM and Mandarin, and explore the intriguing phenomena concerning the conflict between the use of kinship terms of address and self-denigration. The extended use of kinship terms bears on issues of solidarity / social distance and status / power.