Study On The Addressing Forms In A Beacon Out Of A Crossroad

This paper adopts the definition for addressing forms from Modern Chinese Dictionary: "the titles people use for kinship, other relationships or identity, professions and so on, such as father, comrade, factory director etc."This paper classifies addressing forms in A Beacon out of a Crossroad into 8 types: name terms, kinship terms, quasi-kinship terms, self-depreciatory terms, seniority (among brothers and sisters) terms, identity terms, profession terms, and slang terms.There are 2 characteristics for addressing forms in this novel.First, from the perspective of language development, the addressing forms beginning with di or the noun zhai are very rare in novels in Ming and Qing dynasties. The usage of di in seniority terms is very flexible, which can be used both for kinship members and for members without family ties, both in face-to-face occasions and behind-the-back occasions; zhai is used to address the sons of the rich, which is similar with the usage of she. Besides, lao can be used in various situations, that is, in seniority terms, name terms, kinship terms, quasi-kinship terms, identity terms and so on. It can indicate not only "respect, intimacy", but also "disdain, ridicule", and even has the implication of "improper familiarity".Second, in terms of sociolinguistics, three principles are followed in the use of addressing forms in A Beacon out of a Crossroad: different priority in place or rank; respect for seniority; respect for others and depreciation of oneself, which reflect the ethic notions in feudal society in China.The addressing forms in A Beacon out of a Crossroad embody the creams of traditional morality: courtesy. It will be helpful in constructing a harmonious socialistic society to learn the social manners reflected from these addressing forms, and consciously use them with modern Chinese habits in everyday interpersonal communication.