The Study Of Spouse Appellation

Although Spouse Appellation is a subordinate category of Kinship Terms, it is very different from Kinship Terms. So it is necessary and meaningful to study Spouse Appellation separately. This article attempts to make thorough analysis of Modern Chinese Spouse Appellation, and to give static description from the definition,classification, characteristics and other aspects. And to make dynamic explaination from the using aspect. Furthermore, we are trying to explore factors how couples choose Spouse Appellation and why they would like to use such kind.After research and social surveys we form the following opinions: Spouse appellation are used by one of the couple to address or refer to each other. They may be face to face address or behind-the-back appellation. They can be used as address terms from the grammatical aspect and also used as Subject Object or Attribute. Based on the Prototype Theory and Family Resemblance from Cognitive Semantics, we can divide Spouse Appellation into three categories: typical member; sub-typical and atypical member. Through the searching of "People’s Daily" and CCL language database, we found that the most distinctive feature of modern Chinese Spouse Appellation system is secularization and de-gendered. The best example of secularization is the address "Laogong" and "Laopo". The using of a large number of dialect vocabulary and nickname make Spouse Appellation more secular. More and more unisex Spouse Appellation are appearing, it reflects a no gender development trend, which also happens to reflect the social connotations that modern men and women tend to be equal.The factors of selecting and using of Spouse Appellations include the user’s age,gender and education level, as well as using scenarios. Among them, age and marital is negatively correlated with the Spouse Appellation. When becoming older and older,users increasingly prefer to use Spouse Appellations that are less close. The education level is significantly positively related with the degree of closeness of Spouse Appellation. Using scenarios include space, time, and emotions, these will all reflect the choosing of Spouse Appellation.