| To study how people address each other in a certain language is an important issue in studying communication. Address terms are usually employed to begin a conversation, hence establishing harmonious social relationships between individuals. Address terms play a very important role in the process."These terms of address, defined as words used in a speech event that refer to the addressee of that speech event, can be extremely important conveyors of social information" (Parkinson,1985). Appropriate and efficient address terms can shorten the interpersonal distance, create harmonious atmosphere, hence achieving successful communicative needs.Studies on address terms both at home and abroad are mainly from the perspective of sociolinguistics, putting emphasis on social factors. Brown & Gilman's the Pronouns of Power and Solidarity is an influential work. The following researchers mostly carry out studies on the base of the theory put forward in that book. But they neglect the psychological and physical factors in people's utterances. Verschueren's adaptation theory provides a new and comprehensive framework for the pragmatic study of language use.According to Verschueren, using language must consist of the continuous making of linguistic choices, consciously or unconsciously, for language-internal (i.e. structural) and/or language-external reasons. He thinks that people's use of language is a form of behavior. Different from the term act, behavior is of more sociological meanings. According to him, language use is also a social action, so the analysis of language should be a general cognitive, social, and cultural perspective on linguistic phenomena in relation to their usage in forms of behavior.This thesis attempts to employ Verschueren's Adaptation Theory as the theoretical framework to analyze Chinese address terms. Chinese address systems are complicated and abundant. They are deeply influenced by the old feudal social systems, ideologies and cultural values. So the author plans first to discuss the features of Chinese address terms against the background based on the language data corpus, providing a cultural foundation for a better understanding and interpretation of the linguistic phenomenon.Verschueren points out that people can make various choices in the communication process because of the three properties of language:variability, negotiability and adaptability. He considers that language study should be carried out from four angles:contextual correlates of adaptability, structural objects of adaptability, dynamics of adaptability and the salience of adaptation process. For the limitation of the length of this thesis, the author just employs the angle of contextual correlates to interpret the data from some classical Chinese literary works with the aim to show the adaptation process. Then the author presents the changes of some address terms in forms and meanings to prove that Chinese address terms are always changing with the passage of time.This thesis proves that the choice of Chinese address terms is a process of the interlocutors'dynamic activities based on mental, social and cultural factors. It also comes to the conclusion that Chinese address terms change their forms and meanings with the passage of time. The process of language choices is, at the same time, a language strategy. It is of theoretical and practical significance for the establishment of interpersonal relationships. The framework is supposed to interpret other language aspects, e.g. speeches of the famous persons, discourses between employers and employees, etc. A comprehensive and scientific study on language strategies helps to flexibly choose appropriate language items, promoting a smooth communication.This thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter One introduces the research background, purpose, questions and significance of the present study; Chapter Two presents the literature review, including some main contributions to address terms both at home and abroad; Chapter Three provides the theoretical framework, a theoretical base for the study; Chapter Four discusses the features of Chinese address terms based on language data corpus for a better understanding of Chinese address terms; Chapter Five employs the data collected from some Chinese classical literary works into the adaptation theory to analyze the adaptation process in people's utterances, then some address terms in present daily communications are discussed to prove the influences of the times on the changes of address terms; Chapter Six is the conclusion, including implications and limitations of the present study. |
