Naming and addressing: Expressing deference, respect, and solidarity

Heather Bowe; Kylie Martin

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511803925.009

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Chapter 7 - Naming and addressing: Expressing deference, respect, and solidarity

Heather Bowe and

Kylie Martin

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Heather Bowe: Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
Kylie Martin: Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria

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Summary

First names, middle names, last names, nicknames, pronouns and other terms of address all identify individuals in a society. Such address forms can contribute to a person's sense of identity and can characterise ‘an individual's position in his family and in society at large; it defines his social personality’ (Mauss 1974:134). Kinship and other terms indicating relationships are also important as terms of address in certain cultures. Appel and Muysken (1987:13) suggest that personal identity can be defined as ‘the self feeling in relation to the group’.

Braun (1988) outlines some basic concepts in his theory of terms of address. According to Braun, address denotes a speaker's linguistic reference to his/her collocutors (1988:7).

Words and phrases such as second-person pronouns, names, kinship terms and titles, reflect the relationship between the individual and their social context. Braun (1988:13) suggests that:

… address behavior is the way individual speakers or groups of speakers use the repertory of address variants available to them. From a sociolinguistic point of view, address behavior is meaningful whenever speakers have to choose between several variants … Address behavior is further influenced by a speaker's social and linguistic background.

PRONOUNS OF ADDRESS

Pronouns are markers of personal identity in relation to the group. Thus, pronouns of address serve to identify individuals within a given society and their daily usage reinforces personal and social identity.

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Type: Chapter
Information: Communication Across Cultures
Mutual Understanding in a Global World
, pp. 95 - 119

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803925.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

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References

Banks, S. P. 1989 ‘Power pronouns and the language of intercultural understanding’. In , Ting-Toomey S. & , Korzenny F. (eds) Language Communication and Culture. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, pp. 180–98.Google Scholar

Blum-Kulka, S. & Katriel, T. 1991 ‘Nicknaming practices in families: A cross-cultural perspective’. In , Ting-Toomey S. & , Korzenny F. (eds) Cross-Cultural Interpersonal Communication. Newbury Park: Sage Publications, pp. 58–78.Google Scholar

Braun, F. 1988 Terms of address: Problems of Patterns and Usage in Various Languages and Cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRef Google Scholar

Brown, R. & Gilman, A. 1960 ‘The pronouns of power and solidarity’. In , Sebeok T. A. (ed.) Style in Language. New York: Technology Press of MIT.Google Scholar

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Suzuki, T. 1976 ‘Language and behavior in Japan: The conceptualization of personal relations’. Japan Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 255–66.Google Scholar

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