Sociopragmatic Functions Of Address Forms In Gossip Girl From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Address form serves significant functions in social verbal communication. It is the firstinformation that is conveyed to the hearer. Appropriate address forms can make verbalcommunication go smoothly, whereas, inappropriate address forms may impede the process ofverbal communication. Both domestic and foreign linguists have done a lot of studies onaddress forms from different perspectives. On the basis of the previous research, the presentstudy aims to analyze the illocutionary functions and interpersonal functions of address formsin the TV series Gossip Girl from the perspective of relevance theory.The sociopragmatic functions of address forms are divided into four types: directives,expressives, power and solidarity, intimacy and distance, which are analyzed among lovers,family members, acquaintances and strangers, extracted from the TV series. In this thesis, thefeatures of address forms in Gossip Girl are described first. Then, from the perspective ofrelevance theory, on the one hand, address forms are the speaker’s relevant information asoptimal relevance in the process of ostension; on the other hand, address forms are thehearer’s relevant reaction to contextual effects in process of inference. This study attempts tomake a thorough research on the roles that address forms play while performing theillocutionary functions and interpersonal functions in human verbal communication. On thebasis of data collection and analysis, it draws the conclusions: first, address forms canstrengthen the intention of the speakers in realizing the function of directives; second, addressforms can express the emotion of the speakers in realizing the function of expressives; third,address forms can reflect the social status between the speakers in realizing the function ofpower and solidarity; in addition, address forms can control social distance between thespeakers in realizing the function of intimacy and distance.The significance of the study can be seen from the following three aspects. First, it is anattempt to integrate sociopragmaics and relevance theory. To a large extend, it expands theresearch scope of sociopramatic functions of address forms. At the same time, it also extendsthe application range of relevance theory. Second, the sociopragmatic functions of addressforms are highlighted in the study by further analyzing their applications in verbalcommunication. Third, the sociopragmatic functions, namely, strengthening intention,reflecting emotion, reflecting social status and controlling social distance, are exploredintensively, which is beneficial for speakers to express their intentions in the most efficientway.