Vocatives accompanied by modal particles at the end of statements in the Southerners’ communication

Abstract

Vocatives and modal particles, in Vietnamese in general and the Southern dialect in particular, are the linguistic patterns that contribute to expressing attitude and emotional meanings. This study examines the relationship between the vocatives and the modal particles at the end of the Southerners’ statements. Fieldwork method is applied in this study: data on people's conversations at 11 Southern provinces and cities are collected and analyzed. The results show that it is common that vocatives are accompanied by modal particles in the Southerners’ communication, which adds rich semantic nuances to the communication. In addition, either the vocatives come before or after modal particles also leads to the shift of speech focus, resulting in different messages in communication.