A study of the use of addressing terms in english and vietnamese families

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thùy Linh A STUDY OF THE USE OF ADDRESSING TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FAMILIES MA THESIS IN ENGL

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Thùy Linh

A STUDY OF THE USE OF ADDRESSING

TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FAMILIES

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Nguyễn Thùy Linh

A STUDY OF THE USE OF ADDRESSING

TERMS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FAMILIES

Code : 8220201

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Việt Nga, Ph.D

Nguyễn Thị Việt Nga, Ph.D

Date:………

I am deeply grateful to my family who always give me warmth and support

Thanks also to my friends who helped me a lot with my data collection Thanks to all

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT v

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE THESIS viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Methodology 3

1.7 Structure of the study 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Culture, language and communication 5

2.2 Relationship and solidarity in the family 8

2.3 Addressing terms 11

2.3.1 Definitions of addressing terms 11

2.3.2 Features of addressing terms 12

2.3.3 Addressing terms in English 14

2.3.4 Addressing terms in Vietnamese 19

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 34

3.1 Research question revisited 34

3.2 Selection of participants 34

3.3 Data collection instrument 34

3.4 Data collection procedures 35

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 37

4.1 Results of the study 37

4.1.1 Vietnamese responses 37

4.1.2 English responses 42

4.2 Summary of the findings 46

4.2.1 About the results collected from Vietnamese participants 47

4.2.2 About the results collected from English participants 47

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 52

5.1 Recapitulation 52

5.2 Concluding remarks 53

5.3 Implications 54

5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 58

REFERENCES 60 APPENDIX 1 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX 2 BẢN ĐIỀU TRA IV

ABSTRACT

This study is carried out to investigate the area of addressing terms between members in families in Vietnamese and English culture from major perspectives namely the common terms and the affecting factors on the choice

of the terms There are 200 people who are from different Vietnamese and English families take part in this study A questionnaire and an interview are chosen as the data collection instruments According to the results of the research, in Vietnamese the addressing terms used with the highest frequency

in the mentioned relationship are “kinship term” There are many factors affecting the choice of addressing terms such as: “personality”, “occasion” and “mood” Additionally, “age gap” and “position” is also considered by the Vietnamese while the English pay attention to the “personality”, “occasion” and “mood” After analyzing and synthesizing the statistics, the researcher discussed and recommended some implications along with suggestions for further research Last but not least, it is much hoped to improve teaching language – not only in the field of addressing terms but also in any language field in general

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2 : Different ATs are used in the families 38

Table 3 : Frequency of different ATs used in Vietnamese families 39

Table 4 : Degree of influence of possible factors on the choice of

addressing terms used in Vietnamese families 40

Table 5 : Different ATs are used in the families 43

Table 6 : Frequency of different ATs used in English families 44

Table 7 : Degree of influence of possible factors on the choice of

addressing terms used in English families 45

Table 8 : Major differences between Vietnamese and English with

regards to popular addressing terms and categories 50

Table 9 : Major differences between Vietnamese and English with

regards to influential factors on the choice ATs between members in the families

51

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 : Vietnamese participants’ background information 37

Figure 3 : English participants’ information 42

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE THESIS

ATs : addressing terms

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

One of the earliest sociolinguistic studies of speech behavior among speakers of English concerns the way people in the English speaking countries address one another Forms of address are important for effective and successful communication and have long been considered a very salient indicator of status of relationships One can use different forms of address to show his respects or fondness towards other people, or to insult or depreciate them How to address people appropriately needs the taking of several factors into consideration, such as the social status or rank of the other, sex, age, family relationship, occupational hierarchy transactional status, race or degree

of intimacy There do exist general rules of address forms in English, but because address forms are social phenomenon, it varies on different occasions and the rules do not always take effect, just as Philipsen and Huspek said:

“Personal address is a sociolinguistic subject par excellence In every language and society, every time one person speaks to another, there is created a host of options centering around whether and how persons will be addressed, named,…to those who interpret them, are systematic not random Such systematicity in language behavior, whether of use or interpretation, is universal, although what elements comprise the personal address system and what rules govern its deployment, vary across context And such variation in structure is, according to the extant empirical literature, correlated with social ends and social contexts of language use From this view, personal address is

a systematic, variable, and social phenomenon, and these feature of it make it

a sociolinguistic variable, and social phenomenon, and these features of it

make it a sociolinguistic variable of fundamental importance.” (Philipsen and Huspek 1985:94)

Mastering a new language does not only the ability to master its system

of linguistics forms but also the ability to use them appropriately This is because languages differ from one another not only in their system of phonology, syntax and lexicon but also in rules of speaking Addressing is, to various extents, formulaic, culture – specific and routinized in different languages, including Vietnamese and English The selection of appropriate addressing terms largely depends on age, gender, position, qualification, power, the context of interaction and other social factors Addressing is also a product of culture and history

In Vietnam, especially in the Vietnam family, all of the members in the family are usually aware of the fact that a suitable address terms can establish and maintain a good relationship With all the above necessity, I find this topic so inspiring that I decide to carry out a study on the use of addressing terms by the members in the family It is hoped that the research would contribute to raise the awareness of cultural and language differences in the use of addressing terms in English – Vietnamese

1.2 Aims of the study

To investigate major similarities and differences in using addressing terms in English and Vietnamese and the factors which affect the choice of addressing terms between members in Vietnamese – English families

1.3 Research questions

The research questions are:

Question 1: What are the possible addressing terms that members in families call each other in English and Vietnamese?

Question 2: What are the possible factors that affect the choice of ATs between members in the families in the two cultures?

Question 3: What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in ATs used in the families?

1.4 Scope of the study

The study focuses on the addressing terms used by members in English and Vietnamese families The address terms will be analyzed in some specific situations in their families to discover how members address each other in English and Vietnamese In the study, the author also studies nuclear family

in the rural areas

1.5 Significance of the study

The study is hoped to be a useful source for both pedagogical and research purpose Specifically, equipped by the outcomes of the study, language teachers and learners may find the subject matter no longer complicated but motivating uses of addressing terms in English so that English learners can understand deeply addressing terms and can be confident

in using addressing terms successfully

1.6 Methodology

This is a qualitative and quantitative study, therefore I use the following steps to conduct the research

-Studying relevant publications about background theories on addressing terms in English and Vietnamese (mostly from the Internet, books and magazines)

- Conducting survey questionnaires The survey was carried out among

200 people from Vietnamese and English families randomly

1.7 Structure of the study

Chapter 1, the introduction, includes the rationale, the aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study, methodology and the structure of the study

Chapter 2, the literature review, is the most important part in the study

It has theoretical background of culture, language and communication which

is designed to serve as the basic foundation of data analysis Chapter 3 is methodology to study Chapter 4 discusses the addressing terms used by Vietnamese and English family members

Chapter 5, the recapitulation, concluding remarks, implications, limitations and suggestions for further study In this part, some concise summaries on the use of addressing are drawn Simultaneously, the chapter also put forward some implications for the addressing in communication in English and Vietnamese A statement of unsolved problems and suggestions for further research beyond the limits of the paper is also included in this chapter

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Culture, language and communication

Culture, language and communication are the three concepts which are closely related Before being examined in the relationships with the others, each is expected to be perceived in a thorough way

At first, we consider the concept of culture Social scientists have been interested in culture and how it influences people for many years Over the years there have been many different definitions of culture, with similarities as well as differences Culture influences all aspects of our lives

We use culture to explain similarities within and differences between groups

of people (Tooby & Cosmides, 1992) According to Roohul – Amini (1989),

“Culture has multifarious meaning Culture meant farming” (p.15) It is used everywhere as rural culture, urban culture Today, in every field, in humanities, every research requires a general view of culture It is used in archaeology, linguistics, history, psychology, sociology and etc It is even said that man is an animal with culture That is to say, the factor which differentiates the human being’s behavior from the behavior of animal is culture (Mesbahe Yazdi, 2005)

There are about two or three hundred and even more definitions for culture With respect to the definition of culture, Edward Sapir (1956) says that culture is a system of behaviors and models that depend on unconsciousness Rocher (1972/ 2004) an anthropologist, believes that culture is a connection of ideas and feelings accepted by the majority of people in a society (p.142) Undeniably, culture is learned and shared within

social groups and is conveyed by nongenetic ways (The American Heritage, Science Dictionary 2005) Taylor (1974), an anthropologist, says in his Primitive Culture that culture in a complex definition includes belief, art, skills, moralities, laws, traditions and behavior that an individual, as a member of a society, gets from his own society Goodenough (1996) claims that culture is a systematic association of people that have a certain way of life Therefore, culture is the only distinction between human and animals

Of course, animals live in association but it is a special kind There are, indeed, a lot of sharing characteristics between human beings and animals such as associative life, responsibility toward children and so on But culture

is for men, only T.S.Eliot (1961) considers culture as a capital and means for developing all cultures and knowledge in order to terminate all human sharing problems

Obviously, there are many ways to define culture Culture, in short, can be understood as a shared learned behavior that is transmitted from one generation to another independently of biological genes, for the purpose of promoting individual and social survival, adaptation and growth and development

Secondly, communication can be defined as the process of transmitting information and common understanding from one person to another (Keyton, 2011) The word communication is derived from the Latin

word, communis, which means common The definition underscores the fact

that unless a common understanding results from the exchange of

information, there is not communication “Communication” which is defined

each other in the process of development Communication is described as an act of interchanging ideas, information or message from one person or place

to another, via words or signs which are understood to both the parties Communication is vital for the organization because it is a principle means

by which organizational members work with each other Communication is a pervasive process, it is a two way activity, which consists of seven major elements, for example, sender, encoding, message, channel, receiver, decoding and feedback

Thirdly, language is described as a tool which helps in the transmission of feelings and thoughts, from one person to another It is the mean of expression of what a person feels or thinks, through arbitrarily produced symbols or sounds, such as words (spoken or written), signs, sounds, gesture, posture, and so on that convey a certain meaning Language is sole medium of communication between two persons, through which they can share their views, ideas, opinions and emotions with one another It is aimed at making sense of complex and abstract thought and that also without any confusion

Language plays a vital role in establishing and maintaining what we call culture, including conventions, habits and interpretive practice of individuals and communities Through language we create and share with others identities, categories, attitudes, values and belief structures Language

is not only a rule – governed system with its own internal rule and logic, but

a system of tools for the constitution of social life and culture

It is commonly accepted that language is a part of culture, and that culture plays a very important role in it Some social scientists consider that

language without culture would not be possible Language simultaneously reflects culture, and is influenced and shaped by it In the broadest sense, language is also the symbolic representation of a people, since it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds, as well as their approach to life and their way of living and thinking Brown (1994) describes the two as follows: A language is a part of a culture and a culture is a part of a language, the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate, the two without losing the significance of either language or culture (p 165) In

a word, culture and language are inseparable, language is a key component

of culture It is the primary medium for transmitting much of culture Without language, culture would not be possible

Language, culture and communication are different things that cannot

be separated Language is surely the most important tool of communication that individual have at their disposal This is because it is language that permits people to communicate The purpose of acquisition of language as proved by Chomsky is for communicative purpose That is why human communicate perfectly using language means Other means of communication have several weaknesses thus human language is the best means of reflecting culture through communication

2.2 Relationship and solidarity in the family

“As are families, so is society” – in the American author William Thayer’s word (quoted in Samovar (2007, p.40))

In Vietnamese there is a saying literally translated as: family is the basic unit of the society, which nurtures a man’s soul from the cradle to the

American parents often teach their children “the apple does not fall far from the tree”, which implies that a man, no matter where he does, no matter what

he does, would never live separately from his family That is to say how important the family is to a life In his book titled, “Communication between cultures”, Samovar (2007) has noted that family is “one of the oldest and most fundamental institutions of all human, which is a universal experience – found in every culture” (p.40) In other words, family is at the heart of a society’s survival

At a deep – seated level, family can be perceived as “a group of intimates, who generate a sense of home and group identity, complete with strong ties of loyalty and emotion and an experience of a history and future” (Noller and Fitzpatrick, 1993) It is in the family that a man starts his life, initially exposed to love and hate; give and take and is protected after a chain of failure and success of an individual in the society Here never is he alone

Family is the manifestation of the society where all social norms and cultural values are transmitted to each member of the family through communication and language since childhood When the children grow up to virtual citizens and a new family is established, those cultural values continue to be transmitted to next generations That process keeps on and on inexhaustibly, demonstrating the very first and most significant function of the family, which is to transmit important cultural values

Another function of family is to enhance communication proficiencies Not only does family introduce to the babies the language of their culture but it also teaches the babies initial communicating skills,

which are gradually built up and improve through observation, imitation and practices (with other members of the family) “From the family, we first learn how to create, maintain and end relationships, how to express ourselves, how to argue and display affection…” (Gamble, T.K and Gamble, M.W., 2005, p.422)

All things considered, the two basic functions of family have described the relationship between family and culture as well as family and communication, in which family plays the roles of a connector helping to preserve cultural values and better communicative competence over generations, from then, cultural identities are step by step framed and constructed family

There are, in general, two types of family existing in different cultures: nuclear family of a single parent or parents together with one or more than one child and extended family with normally grandparents and relatives The former is more popular in Occidental countries where child – rearing and individualism are centered; the latter is maintained in Oriental cultures as the continuity of deep – rooted tradition where hierarchy and collectivism take the priorities

Nevertheless, whatever type a family is, it still spins around a chief relationship – the relationship between wife and husband, children and parents Undoubtedly, it determines the solidity of the family’s structure, guaranteeing the close links between other relationships in the family

2.3 Addressing terms

2.3.1 Definitions of addressing terms

According to Jack C Richards, J Platt and H Platt (1999) addressing systems (addressing forms, addressing terms) are understood as, “The word

or words used to address to somebody in speech or writing The way in which people address one another usually depends on their age, sex, social group and personal relationship” (p.6) kinship terms to call the above generation, use the first name to call the below generation In Vietnam, people use almost the kinship terms to address in family

According to Khang, N.V (2008), ‘addressing terms are words used to call self and others, which used to address call the hearer or speaker in the communication In comparison with English terms, the use of Vietnamese terms of address in actual communication is more intricate’

Luong (1990) states that both the use and the meanings of Vietnamese person – referring forms are saliently and inextricably linked to the power, solidarity and formality dimensions in the relations among the addressor, addressee, as well as the referred parties Actually, the appropriate choice of Vietnamese addressing forms involves a consideration of wide range of sociolinguistic factors such as age, sex, social status, relationship (blood, intimate or distant), attitudes (respectful or arrogant), feelings of the speakers and addressee English addressing forms, unlike Vietnamese ones, content

“prefabricated units”, such as I, WE and YOU in communication It means that these units can be used in any context and with everyone

If in English “YOU” is used as second person pronoun in singular and plural, for example, Sir, Mr Michael, Daisy, etc In Vietnam second person

pronouns are used “bạn, anh, chị…” in singular, but in plural we have to add numerals before them, for instance, các bạn, các anh, các chị… In some languages, such as Chinese dialects and Japanese, words expressing relationship, for example, father, mother, aunt are used as address forms to show respect

The factors that determine addressing forms vary from culture to another Brown and Gilman (1960) show that the determining factors that may be most common to many cultures are speaker – hearer power differences, interactional situations and how people are introduced to each other The address forms of a language are arranged into a complex address system which its own rules that need to be acquired if a person wants to communicate appropriately

2.3.2 Features of addressing terms

According to Murphy (1988), ATs reflect a relationship’s nature and status, also the degree of affection They are, moreover, a kind of projection that helps to reflect the feelings of the speaker towards one another and to project the speakers’ perception or belief on their relationship onto their partner These words or phrases used for the purpose of identification and expression of ideas (Manjulashi, 2004) turn out to be an indicator for power, difference, solidarity, social relationship, affective distance, degree of intimacy and communicative distance This role of an indicator of ATs has been elaborated in detail in some inter-language studies of Poynton (1989), Brown and Ford (1964), Nguyen Quang (2002), Wardhaudh (1986), among others with the five sub – roles of ATs in general:

The markers of social relation and family relation within a particular society

The markers of attitude and feeling

The occupants of statuses

An attempts to manipulate social relations

The implifiers of attitude towards genders, age, relationship and

so on

Being classic sociolinguistics in the area of ATs across cultures, Brown and Gilman (1960) has concluded that the choice and the use of ATs are determined by two aspects: power semantic (formality and distance) and solidarity semantic (familiarization and intimacy) Since then, a good number

of studies on the same field but in a broader scope and depth have been offered namely the study of Brown and Ford (1964), stressing on the intimacy and status, Hymes (1974) with social distance, Price (1971) accessing to the subject matter from level of formality and so on The outcomes of these papers have indicated a variety of factors affecting the choice of different ATs, which is synthesized and presented comprehensively by Wardhaugh (1986) Wardhaugh points out that this variety of social factors include the particular occasions, social status or rank, gender, age, family relationship, occupational hierarchy (employer – employee relationship for instance), race, degree of intimacy and settings (at home or in public) Consequently, the same person may be addressed in various ways regarding the specific context that person is put into A literature teacher named Nguyễn Thị Mai is expected to be addressed as “cô” (teacher Mai) by her student’s parents,

“Mai” by hear colleagues and if in the communicating environment there

exists another person with the same name, the teacher should be called by nicknames like Mai A or Mai văn (Mai literature), Similarly, in English, Doctor John Smith would be addressed as “Doctor” by his patients, “John” by his friends, “honey” by his wife, “sir” by a policeman who fines him for dangerous driving

2.3.3 Addressing terms in English

Brown and Ford (1961) remark that in English proper names constitute

a nearly universal language of relationship; the semantic dimensions involved serve to relate to one another or all of the members of the society

People address one another reveals their relationship, attitude and feelings towards each other English addressing terms shows a strong tendency of socialization To express solidarity semantic or intimacy the English speakers often call the hearer with first name, call each other with title and last name in formal situation

In English people do not use any addressing terms at all when they are

in doubt how to address another, for example, Good morning or good

afternoon… However, in other languages when we avoid using in order that

which is impolite, for instance, in France you cannot say Bonjour, Au revoir,

Merci or Pardon without attaching an ATs

Firth (1972) said that addressing forms do not only vary across culture but also according to specific type of social situation: individual or group confrontation; formality or informality of the occasion; prior acquaintance or not of the party; conventional emotional quality ascribed to the occasion; face – to - face or distant communication

According to Evans – Pritchard (cited in Hymes, 1964) remarks that the ways a speaker addresses people around him, ‘symbolize his social position in the relation to the people around him, so that, by the use of one or other of them, the status of the speaker to the person addressed is readily recognized’

Under the influence of individualism, English people think highly of personal ability and achievement more than relationship They seldom use kinship terms to refer to non – family members because it may be considered quite rude For example, addressing an older woman “grandma” might cause offense, because in English culture, “old” means aged and useless On the contrary, they usually use general social addressing forms to refer to those non – family members

With I – YOU we can communicate without knowing the age, gender, social status of the hearer, the relationships between the hearer and speaker, attitude and feelings that speakers need to show through addressing forms Besides, people also avoid using personal pronouns, title, names, addressing forms, kinship terms, kinship terms with first name… They use these addressing forms to show the different emotion and attitude

Basically, the following terms are used as popular addressing terms in English:

1 Title alone (T): Mr.; Mrs.; Ms.; Dr.; Professor; Madam …

Social title: Mr.; Mrs.; Madam…

Career title: Professor; Doctor;

In social communication, it is inevitable to use social addressing forms to show politeness or respect Therefore, it is very important to understand different meanings that social addressing forms have Social addressing forms

are greatly affected by social class and traditional ethical concept which are necessary parts in deciding which terms to use

2 Title with full name: Dr Michael, Mrs Thatcher…: used in formal

+Adults are newly introduced

+ The speaker and the hearer are of different occupational status or age For example, children say TLN to adults and receive first name (FN)

TLN is a formal addressing term in English as well as in American society Using TLN in communicating shows politeness in individual relationships Addressing by T is the least intimate because titles often indicate status and age like Doctor, waiter… They do not bring individual identity Thus, it is supposed that “Mr Smith” sounds more intimate than

“Mr.” for the fact that the addressee’s name is known and mentioned, However, T is more formal than TLN For instance, I can be used reciprocally when acquaintance is slight and the last name is unknown

5 Last name alone (LN):

Mary King, Michael Ford…: It is less formal than TLN but more intimate than first name, however, it is used frequently Nguyen Quang (2001) states that excepting the special situations (for example, to call a person who

LN such as Sampras for Peter Sampras, Haliwell for Geri Haliwell is widely employed in the following cases:

+in sports, in offices

+ the first name which is polysyllabic cannot be abbreviated while the

LN is either monosyllabic or has an abbreviation

+in military

6 First name (FN):

Michael Ford, Mary King…: used in informal communication Actually, it is used in most of the conservations When English people ask you to address him or her by first name, he or she wants to make friend with you, in other words, to be close and friendly to you

FN includes full first names (Robert), familiar abbreviated (Bob) and diminutive form (Bobbie) It may be said at once that male first names in American English seldom occur in full forms (Robert, David…) but are almost either abbreviated (Bob, Jim…) or diminutised (Jerry) or both (Bob, Jimmy…) However, female first names are more often left unaltered

7 Diminutive: It is kind of linguistics For instance, Rebecca is reduced to

Beck, Elizabeth to Liz This form is used mostly among family members (grandparents, older brothers, sisters call the younger), or among close friends

8 Addressing forms of endearment: Parents call their children and lovers call

each other in this way For example: Betty, darling, babe, sweetheart…

However, there are only two main selections: first name and title with last name When people want to show the solidarity semantic, they usually

address the partners by first name When they want to show the power semantic, they used TLN to address the hearers These are two addressing forms which are divided into three groups:

+Mutual exchange of FN

+ Mutual exchange of TLN: Title includes Mr.; Mrs.; Ms

+ Nonreciprocal exchange of TLN and FN: older, higher position person addresses the hearer by FN and this person addresses that person by TLN

According to Wardhaugh (1986), “using TLN to express inequality of power, but using mutual exchange of TLN and mutual exchange of FN to express the equality and solidarity between the partners

It is claimed (Brown and Ford, 1964) that the two addressing forms (mutual exchange of FN, mutual exchange of TLN) are influenced by the time the interlocutors know each other and the solidarity In 1986, Wardhaugh (p.260) states that using first name of someone […] is expressed the solidarity FN can use among the close colleagues (even they do not like each other) FN is even used for offices, or when expressing the disdain or admiration

9 Kinship terms:

According to E R Leach (1958), “category words by means of which

an individual is taught to recognize the significant groupings in the social structure into which he is born” (p.143) All languages have kinship terms, which are clearly highlighted in addressing forms of a language Without exception, all kinship terms make use of such factors such as age, sex,

English people use this kind and kinship terms + first name in family and social address According to Schneider & Hormans, “addressing forms are kinship terms in English used to show mutual in reciprocal relationship Kinship terms are used as addressing forms in family and in some addressing cases in society”

10 Title with husband’s LN: Mrs Ford…: After marriage, all of English

women are called by this way

11 Multiple names (MNs): They are commonly real or invented personal

names which anyone can take on as an identity Brown & Ford (1964) also explained that when talking with an object “sometimes using TLN, FN, or LN

or nickname, sometimes creating variables of phonetics of FN or nickname” They are used in close relationships

2.3.4 Addressing terms in Vietnamese

Addressing terms are words used to addressee or call the hearers or speakers in the communication There exist numerous addressing forms in different cultures and languages Like English language, Vietnamese language has complicated addressing forms Addressing forms depend on the factors such as age, gender, social status, occupation and relatives Vietnamese has a system of vocabularies which are very abundant, specially addressing system

It may be said that addressing system in Vietnamese is one of the most interesting phenomenon of this linguistics

Wardhaugh (1986) when studied about kinship terms comments that:

In fact, some languages use the kinship terms as addressing forms […] One person addresses the other by some address terms such as “uncle”, “older sister”, “younger brother”… Even pronoun “I” can be seen as a kinship term

Therefore, in any or every social relation, the interlocutors have to manage to identify themselves and others, and use some factors such as the relation, social position and age to select the suitable addressing terms (p 262)

Addressing systems in Vietnamese are known as a means of politeness

In Vietnamese personal pronouns show the clear border between politeness and impoliteness

In Vietnamese addressing system, there are some addressing forms are follows:

1 Title (T): comrade, director… has the equivalent usage with T in English It

is used by solider For instance, ông giáo, bà luật sư, ông thẩm, ông bí thư…

2 Title with proper name: used in formal communication, for example, Chủ

tịch Hồ Chí Minh, thủ tướng Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Tổng bí thư Nông Đức Mạnh, giáo sư Ngô Bảo Châu…

3 Full name: the case is seen in referring to historical characters only, for

instance, Phan Bội Châu, Hồ Chí Minh, Võ Nguyên Giáp…

4 First name only: used in most cases (both formal and informal) to show

intimacy: among friends, people of elder generations call their children, the boss call the staff

5 Kinship terms with first name: used as following structure

Anh, chị, em, bác, cô, chú, dì, ông, bà, etc + first name

For example, anh Văn, chị Luyến, em Hồng, bác Toàn, cô Hạnh, chú Phần,

It may be used in calling leader of a country who contributed their life and achievements for the sake of that country and is beloved by people, for

instance, bác Hồ, bác Đồng, bác Giáp and so on

6 Middle name and first name: is not the way of addressing formally It is

only heard in some particular following cases:

When many people have the same first name in the same place, for

instance, Đức Anh, Ngọc Anh, Kiều Anh, Thùy Anh, Vân Anh, Hoàng Anh, Cẩm

Anh, Tú Anh… In formal situation (in class, in company, in exam) people may

call the person with the middle name or middle name and first name

7 Last name + first name: used to distinguish two people having the same

middle and first name, for example, Nguyễn Linh (Nguyễn Thùy Linh); Trần

Linh (Trần Thùy Linh), Đào Linh (Đào Thùy Linh) in formal situations such

as in exam or interview

8 Nicknames only: used in informal circumstances

Among close friends: Linh béo, Nhân cao, Yến lùn, Hợi vâu

Among parents and children: for example, parents do not call their

children’s name, they address their name by ordinary things such as: Cải,

Mướp, Thóc, Gạo, Bí, Bún, Bắp and so on

Among uncles, aunts, grandparents call their nephews, for instance,

grandparents call “Nam thối ơi” instead of “Bảo Nam ơi”

9 Kinship terms with husband’s proper name: women after getting married

may be call by her husband’s first name as in the case of English women However, it is often used in rural areas and old Vietnamese women For example, her name is Nhung, her husband’s name is Hưởng When she

becomes older and older, people call her “bà Hưởng”, “mợ Hưởng”, “thím

Hưởng” instead of “bà Nhung”, “thím Nhung”, “mợ Nhung”

10 Scornful terms with proper name: “Thằng cha, tên, con mẹ, thị…+ first

name”: this way is used when addressing a person that the caller scorns There

is no need to be polite and thus no need to regard as age, position For

example, thằng gù, con câm, bà nghễnh ngãng, con mụ a dua…

11 Demonstrative words: “đây”, “đấy”, “đằng này”, “đằng ấy” …

E.g “Hỏi thực, đằng ấy cũng mê đằng này?”

to address in Vietnamese at the different levels show the above factors The selection of addressing forms in communication depends on the factors: age, gender, social status, occupation and solidarity When addressing people usually show politeness, impoliteness, nuances (solemn, neutral, informal, overfamiliar, crude, normal and so on) Kinship and family relationships in Vietnam are more accurately described as a complex network and complicated pattern of relationships

Firstly, Vietnam is a family – centered traditional country Vietnamese people always have the close family relationship strongly and they usually

live in a family with many generation Complicated Vietnamese family hierarchy is the dominant factor in choosing the right addressing forms

Secondly, Vietnamese kinship follows patrilineal relationship Vietnamese people often emphasize much more important to consanguineous relations and affinal ones There are different of kinship terms between

paternal lineages and maternal ones, for instance, cháu nội – cháu ngoại, ông

nội – ông ngoại, bà nội – bà ngoại, mẹ vợ - mẹ chồng and bố vợ - bố chồng

Thirdly, Vietnam culture emphasizes “superior controls junior” The descendant is not allowed to call the elderly by name is considered against the traditional morality and social order, thus they have exact kinship forms are necessary in addressing to distinct elderly kin

In Vietnam social communication, the pair of kinship terms is used to address actively According to Nguyen Quang (2002), in the Northern areas, there are 34 kinship terms as following:

Table 1: Kinship terms as address terms

KINSHIP TERMS AS ADDRESS TERMS The first personal pronoun The second personal pronoun

KINSHIP TERMS AS ADDRESS TERMS The first personal pronoun The second personal pronoun

KINSHIP TERMS AS ADDRESS TERMS The first personal pronoun The second personal pronoun

Cu, 2001) For the first person singular reference, there are five common

pronouns, for example, “tôi”, “tao”, “ta”, “tớ”, “mình” and five pronouns for plural forms with the addition of “chúng” to the singular form such as “chúng

tôi”, “chúng tao”, “chúng tớ”, “chúng mình” According to Ngo (2006), “the

use of Vietnamese personal pronouns pragmatically implies either intimacy/ familiarity, among close friends of the same age, or a lack of deference and high degree of arrogance towards the address and/ or third – party pronominal referent of superior age”

Kinship terms are the one that people firstly used to call members of ascending generation In Vietnam, kinship relationships reflect the hierarchical social structure Kinship terms are one of the most widely term used in Vietnam addressing system and family hierarchy is dominant factor in choosing the right addressing term Family hierarchy is the order of the relationship between people who share family connections “Cha” is generally called “Cha”, “Ba” in the North, South and Central region or “ông già” In the North, “Cha” is called “bố”, “thầy”, “cậu” or even “ông cụ nhà tôi” meanwhile in the South “Cha” is called “tía” “Mẹ” is addressed “mẹ”, “má”,

“u”, “thân mẫu”, “bà thân sinh”, “bà già” and so on Father of father/ mother

is called “ông nội/ bà nội”, and mother’s father, mother is called “ông ngoại/

bà ngoại” Husband’s father, mother, brother and sister are called “cha chồng,

mẹ chồng, anh chồng, chị chồng” perspective Wife’s father, mother, brother and sister are also called “cha vợ, mẹ vợ, anh vợ, chị vợ” Son’s wife is called

“con dâu”, in contrast daughter’s husband addressed “con rể” In Vietnam, hierarchy has been on a person’s relationship to other members of the family

in terms of age, sex, maternal, marriage, etc Older siblings are addressed as

anh (older brother) or chị (older sister) Younger siblings are referred to as em

or more definitively em trai (younger brother) or em gái (younger sister) Older siblings of the parents and their spouses are often called bác The father’s younger siblings are called chú for males and cô for female In some

regions of Vietnam, the wives of the father’s brothers are usually addressed as

thím On the Mother’s side, younger siblings are called cậu for males and dì

for females; the wives of the mother’s younger brothers can sometimes be

called mợ

According to the dialectal regions, kinship is widely used It is the reason why Vietnam kinship terms are so common For example, apart from

“bố”, “cha”, “mẹ” we have so many expressions such as “thầy”, “thày”, “ba”,

“tía”, “mạ”, “mệ”, “bầm”, “bu”, “u”, “má”, “mế”, and so on

Kinship terms in Vietnam are plentiful and complicated which causes many difficulties for foreigners learning Vietnamese, for instance, pronoun

“I” can be translated “chú, cháu, bác, em, anh…”

*In spousal relationship: There are many ways to address between husband

and wife, for example, “anh – em”, “mình – tớ”, “mình – tôi”, “đằng ấy –

đằng này”, “ông xã – bà xã”, “vợ - chồng”…

Example 1:

Nothing in the head Không có cái gì trong đầu

A scholar was preparing to take the

exam His wife was very puzzled by

his constant worrying “Look at you,

you worthless wretch,” she said: “You

probably think that it’s more difficult

for a man to write an essay than for a

woman to give birth to a child.”

“It is easy for you women to give

birth to children,” the scholar sighed

“How is that?” she asked

“You can bear children easily because

you carry the child in your stomach,”

the scholar said: “But I have nothing

in my head, so how do you expect me

to think of something to write?”

Một anh học trò sắp sửa tham dự kỳ

thi Vợ anh ta rất lo lắng khi thấy anh

ta căng thẳng triền miên “Nhìn mình

kìa, trông mình thật khốn khổ Chắc

là mình nghĩ rằng đàn ông viết văn

khó hơn đàn bà sinh con à.”

Anh học trò thở dài: “Người phụ nữ

sinh con thì dễ dàng hơn nhiều.”

Cô vợ hỏi: “Dễ như thế nào?”

“Mình có thể sinh con dễ dàng vì

mình có đứa con trong bụng Còn tôi

chẳng có gì trong đầu, vì vậy làm sao

mà mình mong tôi nghĩ ra điều gì đó

“Look at you, you worthless wretch”

→ “Nhìn mình kìa, trông mình thật khốn khổ”

(In this sentence, “Mình” refers to husband)

“You can bear children easily because you carry the child in your stomach”

→ “Mình có thể sinh con dễ dàng vì mình có đứa con trong bụng”

(In this sentence, “Mình” refers to wife)

When they are happy and they love one another: “anh – em, em – mình, tôi –

How? Are you tired? Why do you

come so late? Your forehead is so hot!

In this example, Mrs Dau called her husband with “thầy em”, it show her

respect, intimacy with him, showing her care to her husband when he borrows money

Example 3:

Tôi đã bảo cậu mà!

Thì tôi đã muốn im đi, sao mợ còn cứ

xui tra tấn

(Mất cái ví – Nguyễn Công Hoan)

I said to you so!

I want to keep silent, why do you say

that?

In this situation, “you” is translated into both “cậu – mợ”, it means

“chồng – vợ” in old society These addressing terms are very popular

Sometimes, social titles used in family: