Vietnamese Personal Terms of Address Reflecting Family Cultures and Relationships Based on Halliday’s Interpersonal Metafunction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1608.21Keywords:
personal expression, social distance, relative social status, terms of address, communication cultureAbstract
The article analyzes the role of terms of address in Vietnamese family relationships through three basic elements of the interpersonal metafunction according to M.A.K Halliday's theory of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG): (1) personal expression, (2) social distance, and (3) relative social status. Terms of address not only reflect feelings and mental states but also express social and cultural positions in the family. The paper uses descriptive and discourse analysis methodologies to clarify the communicative functions and cultural significance of the terms of address' system in the relationships between husband and wife, grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children, and siblings. These terms assist in maintaining family cohesion and affirm cultural values such as affection, respect, and family responsibilities. The preservation and adaptation of these pronouns in traditional ways can contribute to maintaining harmony and sustainability in Vietnamese family relationships.
References
Anh, N. N. (2008). Please Give Me a Ticket to Childhood. Youth Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh City.
Ban, D. Q. (2012). Discourse and Text Structure. Education Publishing House, Hanoi.
Chau, D. H. (2003). Foundations of Pragmatics (Volume 1). University of Education Publishing House.
Chu Van. (2016). Storm at Sea. Literature Publishing House, Hanoi.
Gao, V. P. T. (2014). Let Me Be Closer to You. Women’s Publishing House, Hanoi.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (First edition). London: Edward Arnold.
Hoang Phe. (2014). Vietnamese Dictionary. Da Nang Publishing House, Da Nang.
Kim Lan. (2017). Collection (Village). Literature Publishing House, Hanoi.
Kim Lan. (2023). The Wife Picked Up. Literature Publishing House, Hanoi.
Nam Cao. (2017). The Eyes. Literature Publishing House, Hanoi.
Thi, N. (2023). The Mother with a Gun. Kim Dong Publishing House, Hanoi.
Truong, N. K. (1990). The Land with Many Ghosts. Writers’ Association Publishing House, Hanoi.
Tu, N. N. (2006). The Endless Field. Youth Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh City.
Tuan, N. M. (2020). Standing Before the Sea. Writers’ Association Publishing House, Hanoi.
Van, H. V. (2005). The Experiential Grammar of Vietnamese Sentences: A Description from the Systemic Functional Grammar Perspective. Social Sciences Publishing House.
Yen, M. B. (1994). Addressing between grandparents and grandchildren in Vietnamese families. Language Journal, (2), 31-40.
