The intimacy of address: friendship markers in children's social play

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this paper, a preschool children's game is analyzed with reference to patterns of address used by intimates in beginning utterances. The findings reveal that the alternation between real and pretend names functions to mark context shifts in the nature of the activities, and to delineate role relationships among the participants along the dimensions of power and affiliation. It is suggested that variations in how children address one another provide insight into their understanding of a system of social relations. (Peer interaction; developmental sociolinguistics; social behavior, children's address patterns; American English).