Family(jiārénmen) is not a family: a study on the construction of pragmatic identities in the generalization of Internet address term “jiārénmen”
-
Junling Wang
,
Yansheng Mao
and
Kaihang Zhao
Abstract
This paper examines the generalization of the Internet address term “family” (jiārénmen), a recently emerging phenomenon in language use from the perspective of Pragmatic Identity Theory. The main thrust of this research is to reveal the pragmatic identities and pragmatic functions involved in the use of “family” (jiārénmen). The core point has been arrived at by using a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore relevant cases collected from WeChat, Weibo, and in-person conversations. Research findings demonstrated that in different contexts, the address term “family” (jiārénmen) can construct various pragmatic identities, all of which belong to the deviational identity opposite to the default identity. Notably, the construction of these identities functions to patch up address terms slot, promote relationships, and satisfy transactional needs. Furthermore, the generalization of the address term “family” (jiārénmen) mirrors the effect of the psychological mechanism of communicators and the Chinese family culture on discourse practice. The findings above contribute to extending the research line of Internet address term generalization, as well as a deeper understanding of the mechanism of the Internet address term “family” (jiārénmen) towards a harmonious language-using environment.
References
Abu-Abbas, Khaled, Samer Omar Jarbou, Thaer Al-Kadi & Muhammad A. Badarneh. 2010. Fictive kinship names in Jordanian Arabic. Ononomasiology Online (11). 1–10.Search in Google Scholar
Alenizi, Aied. 2019. The norms of address terms in Arabic: The case of Saudi Speech Community. International Journal of English Linguistics 9(5). 227–241. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n5p227.Search in Google Scholar
Chen, Xinren. 2013. 语用身份:动态选择与话语建构 [Pragmatic identity: dynamic choice and discourse construction]. 外语研究 (04). 27–32+112.Search in Google Scholar
Chen, Xi. 2016. 现代汉语称呼语及其缺环问题研究综述 [A review of modern Chinese dddressing words and their missing slot]. 语文学刊 (外语教育教学) (02). 8–10.Search in Google Scholar
Chen, Xinren. 2018. 语用身份论 – 如何用身份话语做事 [Pragmatic identity: how to do things with words of identity]. 北京: 北京师范大学出版社.Search in Google Scholar
Freed, Stanley A. 1963. Fictive kinship in a north Indian village. Ethnology 2(1). 86–103. https://doi.org/10.2307/3772970.Search in Google Scholar
Graham, Sage Lambert. 2007. Disagreeing to agree: Conflict, (im)politeness and identity in a computer-mediated community. Journal of Pragmatics 39(4). 742–759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2006.11.017.Search in Google Scholar
Huang, He. 2012. 浅议现代汉语称呼语的泛化 [A brief discussion of the generalization of modern Chinese addressing terms]. 现代交际 (6). 56.Search in Google Scholar
Ji, Yingchao. 2016. 从社会语言学角度浅析 “老师” 称谓的泛化现象及原因 [An analysis of the generalization of the title “teacher” and its causes from a sociolinguistic perspective]. 赤峰学院学报 (汉文哲学社会科学版) 37(08). 184–185.Search in Google Scholar
Johanna, Rendle-Short. 2010. ‘Mate’ as a term of address in ordinary interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 42(5). 1201–1218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.09.013.Search in Google Scholar
Li, Shuxin. 2004. 论汉语称谓的困境与缺环 [On the dilemma and the missing slot of Chinese appellations]. 内蒙古社会科学 (汉文版) 25(06). 88–93.Search in Google Scholar
Li, Qong & MinDu. 2011. 当代中国汉语社会称谓语变迁的研究 [A study on the change of social appellation in contemporary Chinese]. 西北大学学报 (哲学社会科学版) 41(06). 74–77.Search in Google Scholar
Liu, Yonghou. 2010. 汉语称呼语的研究路向综观 [An overview of the research directions of Chinese address terms]. 语言文字应用 (03). 89–97.Search in Google Scholar
Long, Deyin. 2021. “老师” 称谓泛化机制研究 [A study of the mechanism of generalization of the title “teacher”]. 西安外国语大学学报 29(03). 19–23.Search in Google Scholar
Long, Ziwei & JinYu. 2018. 近十年来汉语亲属称谓研究综述 [A Review of the Research on Chinese Kinship Phrases in the Last Decade]. 吉首大学学报 (社会科学版) 39(02). 210–213.Search in Google Scholar
Lu, Wenjing & Lu Guojun. 2016. 对在线医疗咨询回复中的语用身份研究 [A Study of Pragmatic Identity in Responses to Online Medical Consultations]. 安徽文学 (下半月) (12). 159–160.Search in Google Scholar
Luo, Chaoying. 2006. 浅析壮(南)族亲属称谓语的泛化 [An analysis of the generalization of Zhuang (southern) kinship appellation language]. 甘肃农业 (09). 164.Search in Google Scholar
Ma, Zejun & YaqianGuo. 2021. 庭审中公诉人转述话语的语言特征及其建构的语用身份 [The linguistic features of the prosecutor’s paraphrased discourse in the courtroom and its constructed pragmatic identity]. 外国语 (上海外国语大学学报) 44(03). 60–70.Search in Google Scholar
Ma Milagros, Del Saz-Rubio. 2018. Female identities in TV toiletries ads: A pragmatic and multimodal analysis of implied meanings. Journal of Pragmatic (136). 54–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.07.009.Search in Google Scholar
Okada, Ferdinand E. 1957. Ritual brotherhood: A cohesive factor in Nepalese society. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 13(3). 212–222. https://doi.org/10.1086/soutjanth.13.3.3629147.Search in Google Scholar
Pan, Pan. 1998. 论亲属称谓语的泛化 [On kinship term generalization]. 语言文字应用 (2). 34–38.Search in Google Scholar
Qin, Bo & Zhoumin Yuan. 2020. 政务新媒体语用身份构建研究 – 以 “中国政府网” 政务微信为例 [Study on the construction of linguistic identity of new media for government affairs: example of ‘Chinese government network’ government WeChat]. 语言学研究 (02). 197–208.Search in Google Scholar
Ren, Juanjuan. 2019. 语用身份视角下汉语称呼语泛化现象研究 [A study on the generalization of Chinese addressing words from the perspective of linguistic identity]. 浙江外国语学院学报 (05). 60–67.Search in Google Scholar
Su, Jing & JiaLu. 2002. 论称谓语的泛化 [On the generalization of address terms]. 山东教育学院学报 (06). 63–65.Search in Google Scholar
Sun, Li. 2015. 中国硕士学位论文英文摘要的语用身份建构研究 [A Study on the Construction of the Pragmatic Identity of English Abstracts of Chinese Master’s Theses]. 外语与外语教学 (05). 15–21.Search in Google Scholar
Tang, Yaqin. 2010. “老板”称呼语泛化的原因分析 [An analysis of the reasons for the generalization of the term “boss”]. 湖南医科大学学报 (社会科学版) 12(03). 109–110.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, Yaping. 2013. 《隋唐演义》中 “兄” 的泛化用法及文化内涵 [The generalized usage and cultural connotation of ‘brother’ in sui tang romance]. Wenxue jiaoyu (Xia) 文学教育 (下) (05). 57.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, Bei. 2014. 话语·身份·立场 – 国台办发言人涉台话语分析 [Discourse – identity – position – analysis of Taiwan-related discourse of the spokesman of the state council taiwan affairs office]. 浙江外国语学院学报 (03). 23–29.Search in Google Scholar
Wang, Xin. 2020. 基于互动视角对网络交际称呼语 “亲” 的考察 [An examination of the online communicative term ‘dear’ based on an interactive perspective]. 河南工业大学学报 (社会科学版) 36(05). 101–106.Search in Google Scholar
Wei, Minghui. 2012. 关于现代汉语称谓语泛化现象的研究 [A Study on the Phenomenon of Generalization of Modern Chinese Address Terms]. 文学教育 (中) (11). 84.Search in Google Scholar
Wu, Yongyi. 1990. The usages of kinship address forms amongst non-kin in Mandarin Chinese: The extension of family solidarity. Australian Journal of Linguistics 10(1). 61–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/07268609008599432.Search in Google Scholar
Wu, Jue. 2018. 新媒体话语中的语用身份建构 – 以 “中印边界争端事件” 为例 [The construction of pragmatic identity in new media discourse: a case study of the sino-indian border dispute]. 当代外语研究 (01). 13–18+30+108.Search in Google Scholar
Xu, Chongqing. 2021. 社会语言学视域下对称谓词泛化的探讨 – 以 “老师” 为例 [Discussion on the generalization of symmetric predicates from the perspective of sociolinguistics: taking ‘teacher’ as an example]. 汉字文化 (17). 181–184.Search in Google Scholar
Yang, Kun & Jing Chen. 2022. The son (érzi) is not really a son: Generalization of address terms in Chinese online discourse. Pragmatics 33(1). 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.20070.yan.Search in Google Scholar
You, Chenghong. 2014. Analysis on the generalization of the address term “teacher” in Chinese from the perspective of sociolinguistics. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 4(3). 575. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.4.3.575-580.Search in Google Scholar
Zha, Jiamin & Zhanzhu Gao. 2011. 亲属称谓泛化现象的语用研究 – 以 “哥、姐” 等亲属称谓为例 [A pragmatic study on the generalization of kinship terms: taking ‘brother’, ‘sister’ and other kinship terms as examples]. 语文学刊 (13). 21–23.Search in Google Scholar
Zhang, Aimin. 2001. 现代汉语第二人称代词人称泛化探讨 [Discussion on the generalization of the second personal pronoun in modern Chinese]. 徐州师范大学学报 (01). 31–34.Search in Google Scholar
Zhang, Xuan. 2022. 当代网络语言的特点及流行的文化原因 [The characteristics of contemporary network language and popular cultural reasons]. 汉字文化 (20). 35–37.Search in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- “I was embroidering the towel with a sincere hand and praying to God for fate and godsend”: hybrid beliefs presented on Ukrainian rushnyks
- Pragmatic characteristics of diminutive adjectives in Kazakh and English languages
- Anthroponyms: the lexico-semantic approach to word formation and its social and cultural implications
- Unveiling humour in digital discourse: the pragmatic functions of humorous stickers in Spanish WhatsApp chat groups
- Gender stereotype: the features of development and functioning in the Kazakh language
- Cognitive foundations of the formation of communicative competencies in the theory of dialogue
- Family(jiārénmen) is not a family: a study on the construction of pragmatic identities in the generalization of Internet address term “jiārénmen”
- On the social meanings of avoiding fully-articulated explicatures and the role of pragmatics in utterance explication
- The issues of developing the historical subcorpus of the National Corpus of the Kazakh Language
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Translation of Perso-Arabic loanwords from Hindi into Polish: a pilot study
- Book Review
- Rod Ellis, Carsten Roever, Natsuko Shintani & Yan Zhu: Measuring Second Language Pragmatic Competence: A Psycholinguistic Perspective
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- “I was embroidering the towel with a sincere hand and praying to God for fate and godsend”: hybrid beliefs presented on Ukrainian rushnyks
- Pragmatic characteristics of diminutive adjectives in Kazakh and English languages
- Anthroponyms: the lexico-semantic approach to word formation and its social and cultural implications
- Unveiling humour in digital discourse: the pragmatic functions of humorous stickers in Spanish WhatsApp chat groups
- Gender stereotype: the features of development and functioning in the Kazakh language
- Cognitive foundations of the formation of communicative competencies in the theory of dialogue
- Family(jiārénmen) is not a family: a study on the construction of pragmatic identities in the generalization of Internet address term “jiārénmen”
- On the social meanings of avoiding fully-articulated explicatures and the role of pragmatics in utterance explication
- The issues of developing the historical subcorpus of the National Corpus of the Kazakh Language
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Translation of Perso-Arabic loanwords from Hindi into Polish: a pilot study
- Book Review
- Rod Ellis, Carsten Roever, Natsuko Shintani & Yan Zhu: Measuring Second Language Pragmatic Competence: A Psycholinguistic Perspective
