Forms of Address Used by Malaysian Chinese (2009) (original) (raw)
Among other societies, the Chinese seem to put more emphasis on using appropriate forms of address when interacting with relatives as well as others. Besides the influence of the family hierarchy (Lu Chang 2003, Huang and Jia, 2000), the emphasis is also the result of the Confucius teachings of politeness. It has been said that one good indicator of social changes is the use of the forms of address in a particular society. Hence, it may be possible that the traditional forms of address observed by immigrant Chinese in their heydays may have changed due to the influence of the local environment and the change in lifestyles. This study aims at identifying the various forms of address used by Malaysian Chinese in their social interactions with others in various contexts. Via participant-observation, spoken data that employ the various forms of address are then manually recorded into a journal. Factors like age, gender, profession are seen as possible determining factors. The articulated forms of address are then analysed in terms of the traditional types which have been listed by literature (see Huang and Jia, 2000 and Wikipedia). Data is also divided into the various domains of home, the workplace and education. The findings suggest that some of the traditional forms of address are still in use but other forms of address have also emerged as a result of the influence of the local environment, education (Yang, 2007) and other factors.
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