Social changes and changing address norms in China

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe 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 termtóngzhì‘comrade’ as well as some other address terms relevant to it. Emphasis is on the discussion of why official titles rather thantóngzhìare preferred by certain Chinese officials. The second part focuses on how traditional address terms such asxiānsheng‘Mr.’,tàitai‘Mrs.’ andxiaojie‘Miss’ have undergone changes; and the third part refers to the use of the second singular pronouns of both the regular formníand the honorificním. 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)