By Tammie Tran UC Irvine

1. 20th Annual COTSEAL/SEASSI Conference – 7/2010 University of Wisconsin - Madison The Vietnamese Address System: The Beauty or the Inconvenience? By Tammie Tran UC Irvine

2. Outline • Vietnamese Address Forms - Introduction • Types of Address Forms • Grammatical Properties of Address Forms • Factors Determining the Choice of Address Forms • Geographical Variation and Changes • Address Forms – the Beauty • Address Forms – the Inconvenience • Pedagogical Implications

3. The Viet Address System - Introduction • The word forms used to refer to the addressees, the speaker, and third parties in social interaction (Cooke, 1968; Luong, 1990) • Addresser - First person singular and plural forms • Addressee - Second person singular and plural forms • Third parties - Third person singular and plural forms

4. Types of Address Forms • Personal pronouns • Tôi (I) Chúng tôi (we) • Bạn (you) Các bạn (you) • Anh ấy, chị ấy, nó Họ, chúng nó • (he/she/it) (they) • Proper nouns • Hoa, Lan --- • Kinship terms • Ông (grandfather), bà (grandmother), anh/em (older/younger brother), -- • Used both for kin- and non-kin relationships

5. Types of Address Forms (2) • Social status terms (occupational titles) • BácsĩĐức/Nguyễn (Doctor) • GiáosưHòa/Phạm (Professor) • Other nouns of human referents • Bácbánphở (The person who sells noodle), anhđổxăng (gas-station attendant), chịbáncơm (rice saleswoman) • Applicable as addresses(?) • Chịbáncơmơi(?) • More common for a third person reference

6. Grammatical Properties • Intralexical declension • Gender √ • Anh(older brother; male young person) • Chị(older sister; female young person) • Number √ • Nó (it) Họ (they) • In grammatical cases Ø • Bácấylà--(Uncle/he is--) • Xecủabácấy--(his car--) • -- gặpbácấy(--met him) • -- tặngchobácấy --(--gave -- to him)

7. Grammatical Properties (2) • Interlexical declension • In grammatical cases Ø • Bácấy/bàấy/họlàkỹsư. • (He/she/they is/are (an) engineer(s)) • Xecủabácấy/bàấy/họ(là) màuđỏ. • (His/her/their car(s) is/are red) • Tôigặpbácấy/bàấy/họhôm qua. • (I met him/her/them yesterday) • Tôitặngmộtquyểnsáchchobácấy/bàấy/họ. • (I gave a book to him/her/them)

8. The choice of Address Terms • Based on • Age ---> kinships • To an old person – bác/chú (uncle) • To a kid – em (younger person), cháu (niece/nephew/grandchild) • Social status • Bệ hạ (Majesty) • Bác sĩ (doctor); giáo sư (professor) • Formality • Formal: ông, bà (gentleman, lady) • Informal: anh, em (older/younger person) ---

9. The choice of address terms (2) • Based on • Gender • Anh (older brother; older male person) • Chị (older sister; older female person) • Relationships • Blood – ba, mẹ (dad, mom) <-> con • Intimate – chị (older sister/elder person/senior/close relationships) <-> em (younger sister/person/close relationships) • Distant – anh <-> tôi (you – I (formal))

10. The choice of address terms (3) • Based on • Attitudes (respectful or arrogant) • Ông, anh (older male person); • Mày (a second singular person form) • Feelings • A mother – a child: mẹ <-> con • -> tôi <-> anh --- • Mother: Đừng hỏi ý kiến mẹ/tôi nữa. Con/Anh muốn làm gì thì làm. (Don’t ask for my opinion any more. Do whatever you want.)

11. Variation • Geographical variation • Northern Vietnam – Mẹ (mother) • Central Vietnam – Mạ (mother) • South Vietnam – Má (mother) • Urban – “mẹ” – mẹ, má (mother) • Rural – mầm, mợ, u, bu (mother) • Historical change • Tía, bá, thầy, cậu, cha,--ba, bố(father) • U -- bu, bầm, mợ,--- mẹ (mother)

12. The Beauty • Vietnamese culture • The expression of respect • Appropriate terms for older/younger people • Expression of hierarchy • Social status • Bệhạ (majesty), hoànghậu (queen)- • Individual’s personality • Polite/elegant/gentle--- • Anh/em/ông/tui (couple)

13. The Beauty (2) • Vietnamese culture • Educational qualities • Kin relationships • Anh - em (you – I) (siblings) • Mày - tau (you - I) (siblings) • Non-kin relationships • Chú - cháu (you – I) (old/young people) • Tau – mày (you – I) (old/young people); Thằng/con(male/female) • Expression of feelings • Affection/love • Emyêu/anhyêu (honey) • Anh – em --- tôi – anh --- tau/mày (siblings)

14. The Inconvenience • Sociopragmatic meanings of address forms (Belz & Kinginger, 2002) • The choice of address terms must be based on various sociopragmatic factors • Each of the factors/relationships results sin different terms (e.g.maternal/paternal) • Meaning loss in translation (Nida, 1964) • - Tôiđâuđẹpnhưcôta/ngườitađểchoanhquantâm (I am not as beautiful as her/other people to get your attention) • - Hôm qua khôngtớilàmtôi/em/ngườitachờmãi. (I waited for you for a long time but you didn’t come)

15. The Inconvenience (2) • Gender relations (Salami, 2004) • - Thầy/cô – male /female teacher • - Cô/chú – uncle/aunt • Confusion and embarrassment about people’s age (Afful, 2007) • Guessing other people’s age -> insulting them • Shift of address terms due to attitude, feelings (Akindele, 2008) • - Mẹ <-> con/name/mày (mom-child) • - Tôi <-> anh (mom-son) • Consideration of age/relationships • - Anh/chị (the elders) (junior to senior)(?)

16. The Inconvenience (3) • Different meanings in a single address form • T/V distinction • You <-> I (personal pronouns, proper names, kinship terms, status terms--) • A personal pronoun –> 1st, 2nd, 3rd person • -> interlingual code-switching in both young and old adults (Ho-Tu, 1997)

17. A Comparative Analysis • T/V distinction • VietnameseEnglish • Different meanings Personal prons • Personal pronouns you <-> I • - Chủ nhật con đi học • Không? (Do you go to • school on Sunday?) • - Dạ không, con không • đi học. (No, I don’t --) • Chị - (older female) 1st, 2nd, & 3rd person • Chị đi về VN. (I/you/she goes to VN)

18. Pedagogical Implications • Teaching address system in context but not in isolation (Weaver, 1996) • Authentic materials • Specific relationships • Telecollaboration (Belz, 2002)–> internet communication tools(email, synchronous chat)

19. Pedagogical Implications (2) • Grammar dimensions ( Larsen-Freeman,1995) • Form: Memory tasks; texts that instantiate the forms of addresses; contextualized examples • Meaning: Recognition practice (when, where, why to use some specific forms) • Use: Attention to forms that occur at high density; situational practices; role-plays

20. An example of form & meaning

21. Use: • Exercises • Activities Ông Ông là -- Ông thích ------ Bà Bà là -- Bà thích ------ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- Chào bạn (Hello) Thank You Questions & Comments

22. References • Major references • Belz, J. & Kinginger, C. (2002). The Cross-linguistic Development of Address Form Use in Telecollaborative Language Learning: Two Case Studies. Canadian Modern Language Review, Vol. 59, No. 2, 189-214, University of Toronto Press. • Cooke, J. (1968). The Pronominal Reference in Thai, Burmese, and Vietnamese, Berkley: University of California Press. • Ho-Tu, D. (1997). Vietnamese-English Bilinguals in Melbourne: Social Relationships in the Code-Switching of Personal Pronouns - Tuc Ho-Dac. International Journal: Language, Society, and Culture. • Larsen-Freeman, D. (1995). On the teaching and learning of grammar: Challenging the myths. In F. Eckman et al. (Eds.), Second language acquisition theory and pedagogy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. • Luong, H. (1990). Discursive Practices and Linguistic Meanings : the Vietnamese System of Person Reference. Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins Pub. Co. • Nida, E.A. 1964. Toward a Science of Translation. Leiden: E.J. Brill • Weaver, B. (1996). Teaching Grammar in Context. Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc.