A Study On The Absence Of Address Terms At Colleges In China

Address terms are words that speakers use to address the person they are talking to. They play a significant role in daily communication. Moreover, address terms are always connected to culture and ethics. In the long history of China, several works related to address terms have appeared. However, until the time of Ming and Qing dynasties, all the works were written to help with the emperors for management or studied from a perspective of wording meaning. Chao Yuenren, began the study of modern Chinese address terms in1950s and after1990s, the research of Chinese address terms have been diversified.This paper attempts to figure out the absence of address terms in college students based on the empirical study in Nanjing Normal University. Meanwhile, the supplementary forms for address terms absence are also discussed.This thesis is divided into three parts. Introduction, chapter one, chapter two belong to the first part, in which detailed studies on address terms are given, including definition, classification, function, literature review of previous studies, and also peripheral factors around address terms.The second part includes chapter three, four, five and six, in which an empirical study is conducted to show the absence of address terms in college students. Chapter five and six focus on the reasons for address term absence and the supplementary forms.The last chapter is the conclusion and also a summary of achievements and limitations is concluded.