Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T21:57:39.618Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social changes and changing address norms in China*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Hanquan Fang  and
J. H. Heng
Hanquan Fang
Affiliation:
Department of Foreign Languages and LiteratureJinan University
J. H. Heng
Affiliation:
Hunan Teachers' Institute
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the changing address norms in China since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. The first part of the paper deals with the term tóngzhì ‘comrade’ as well as some other address terms relevant to it. Emphasis is on the discussion of why official titles rather than tóngzhì are preferred by certain Chinese officials. The second part focuses on how traditional address terms such as xiānsheng ‘Mr.’, tàitai ‘Mrs.’ and xiaojie ‘Miss’ have undergone changes; and the third part refers to the use of the second singular pronouns of both the regular form ní and the honorific ním. The paper also reports on the changes in some other aspects including address terms to women and some proper names relevant to address. (Address, language change, Chinese linguistics, anthropological linguistics, politics of language)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , December 1983 , pp. 495 - 507
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Brown, R., & Ford, M. (1964). Address in American English. In Hymes, D. (ed.), Language in culture and society. New York: Harper & Row. 234–44.Google Scholar
Chao, Y. R. (1956). Chinese terms of address. In Aspects of Chinese sociolinguistics — Essays by Yuen Ren Chao. Selected and introduced by Dil, A. S.. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1976. 312–32.Google Scholar
DeFrancis, J. (1975). Sociolinguistic aspects of Chinese language-teaching materials. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 3(2/3):250–51.Google Scholar
Ervin-Tripp, S. M. (1969). Sociolinguistic rules of address. In Pride, J. B. & Holmes, J. (eds.), Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972. 225–40.Google Scholar
Ervin-Tripp, S. M. (1971). Sociolinguistics. In Fishman, J. A. (ed.), Advances in the sociology of language, vol. i. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1964). Nuer modes of address. In Hymes, D. (ed.), Language in culture and society. New York: Harper & Row. 221–27.Google Scholar
Fincher, B. H. (1973). The Chinese language in its new social context. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 1(1):163–69.Google Scholar
Mao, C. D., et al. (1974). Jiàngu´ yil´i Hànyu cíhuì de fāzhan biànhuà (Vocabulary changes and expansions in the Chinese language since the founding of the People's Republic). Journal of Chinese Linguistics 2(3):249–256.Google Scholar
Sun, Yat-sen (1925). Political will of Sun Yat-sen in the Triple demism of Sun Yat-sen. Translated from the Chinese, annotated, and appraised by D'Elia, P. M., Wuchang, S. J., China: Franciscan Press, 1931. Appendix 2.Google Scholar
Tang, S. P. (1975). Yitóngzhì xiāngchēng, yi tóngzhì xiāngdài (Address each other and treat each other as comrade). Rénmí Rìbào (the People's Daily), July 2.Google Scholar
Vogel, E. F. (1965). From friendship to comradeship: The change in personal relations in Communist China. China Quarterly 21:54CrossRefGoogle Scholar