Address forms, which are very common phenomena in daily life and universal across cultures, integrate linguistic symbols with various factors in social cultures, pragmatics, and psychology. It is the comprehensive analysis from various perspectives that could explore the nature of address forms and the rules of proper use of them.Address forms, as important tools in information exchange and communication, play significant role in verbal communication. Their cultural and pragmatic functions are embodied in profound cultural characteristics, language structures and code transition, and rules of politeness. The use of address forms contributes to the promotion of cultural exchange and enhancement of friendship.The thesis falls into 4 chapters.Chapter One is the introduction to address forms study reviewing the history of address forms study and discussing the relevant theoretical problems, study purposes and methodology.Chapter Two makes a comprehensive analysis on the cultural functions of address forms exploring the influence of patriarchal clan system, ethic ideology and values system.Chapter Three highlights the pragmatic functions of address forms in the form of language structures, code transition and rules of politeness.Chapter Four discusses the interaction between address forms and cross-cultural communication and comes to the conclusion of improving using ability of address forms with the purpose to promote cultural exchange and friendship. |