[Lingtyp] Extended uses of terms of address/vocatives

Tue Feb 4 22:18:16 UTC 2025

Hello,

Tagging along to this (and taking for granted similar English terms of
address like "buddy" and "mate"), "gurl"/"girl" could be seen as a variant
of "bro"/"bruh". It's especially current in certain AAVE and LGBTQ+
communities, and overwhelmingly online (re: the meme/catchphrase "gurl
bye!"). It can of course also be used between women outside these
demographics, especially younger women/teens. I'm not sure if the discourse
usages have been observed or described at all, but it seems fairly new, at
least newer than "bro". "Sis" is another one as well.

In English, these terms can also be used sarcastically or to appear
standoffish: anything that elicits a "don't buddy me" or "I'm not your bro"
could fall under this kind of usage. Reason I mention this is because
searching for "gurl" on Google /Twitter/Reddit/etc seems to bring up a lot
of these contexts.

- Ellison Luk

On Tue, 4 Feb 2025, 22:19 Michael Fiddler via Lingtyp, <
lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:

> Hi Andrea,
>
> This may be on your radar already, but *bro *or *bruh *in American
> English (and probably other varieties) exhibits these extended functions.
> Originally a term of address for a singular male addressee (typically from
> a male speaker as well), it can now be used by any speaker as an
> attention-getting marker for any addressee or group of addressees, as a
> stand-alone interjection expressing surprise, and as an intensifier for the
> utterance that it goes with (either preceding or following).
>
> I don't know the literature on this topic, but I observe these uses of
> *bro/bruh *on a daily basis from my seven-year-old daughter and her
> friends, as well as my three-year-old son, who learned it from his big
> sister.
>
> From California,
>
> Michael
>
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 4, 2025 at 11:28 AM David Gil via Lingtyp <
> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear Andrea,
>>
>> A phenomenon displaying several of the features you noted (a term of
>> address with plural meaning and extended functions) can be observed in many
>> languages, in contemporary slang, especially that of social media,
>> involving the borrowing, sometimes with high frequency, of English *guys*
>> .  I have heard this in, among others, varieties of African English,
>> various Indo-Aryan languages, assorted Philippine languages, and also
>> Malayic dialects.  For some examples from Malayic dialects see Gil
>> (2024), reproduced below.
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>> David
>>
>>
>>
>> (31)  *Minangkabau*
>>     Gais lai pernah mancubo makan iko gais?
>>          *Gais*   lai            pernah   mancubo   makan   iko
>> *gais*?
>>
>>          guys   add.foc  exp        ag:try        eat
>> dem:dem.prox    guys
>>
>>          'Guys, have you ever tried eating this, guys?'
>>
>> [https://www.instagram.com/reel/C11JuKNhuex/]
>>
>> (32)  *Papuan Malay*
>>
>>          Sabar     *gais*,   ha     mancing    dulu
>>
>>          patient   guys   1sg   catch.fish   first
>>
>>          'Wait a bit, I want to do some fishing first.'
>>
>>          [DGD]
>>
>> (57)  *Jakarta Indonesian ~ Standard Indonesian*
>>
>> Hay gaess. Bagaimana gaes,, kalian sudah nonton belum tadi gaes acara
>> Bincang Tokoh ibu Dr. Hj. Winarti SE. MH. bersama ANTV Lampung???
>>
>>          Hay *gais*. Bagaimana *gais*, kalian  sudah nonton  belum
>> tadi           *gais*  acara
>>
>>          hi     guys  how             guys 2pl      pfv     watch
>> nondum pst.prox  guys  program
>>
>>          Bincang  Tokoh      ibu        Dr. Hj. Winarti  SE. MH.  bersama
>> ANTV   Lampung
>>
>>          discuss   character  mother  Dr. Hj. Winarti  SE. MH.  together
>> ANTV   Lampung
>>
>>  'Hi guys, what's up guys, have you already watched, guys, the programme
>> discussing the character of Mrs. Dr. Hj. Winarti SE. MH. on ANTV Lampung?'
>>
>> [
>> https://www.tulangbawangkab.go.id/news/read/4044/hay-gaess-bagaimana-gaes-kalian-sudah-nonton-belum-tadi-gaes-acara-bincang-tokoh-ibu-dr-hj-winarti-s
>> ]
>>
>> (58)  *Standard Indonesian*
>>
>> Rudal    Tamir   sendiri    adalah   rudal     luncur   otomatis,   atau
>> "self-propelled",
>>
>> missile  Tamir   neg.foc cop       missile  launch   automatic  or
>> self-propelled
>>
>> yang   berbahan         bakar   padat,  dan     dipandur    radar  yang
>> merancang,
>>
>> rel     dpat:material  burn     solid    and     pat:guide   radar  rel
>> ag:design
>>
>> untuk  mencegah     target pada jarak   hingga tujuh  puluh   kilometer
>> *gais*
>>
>> for      ag:prevent   target obl   range  until     seven ten
>> kilometer   guys
>>
>> 'The Tamir missile itself is an automatically-launched, or
>> self-propelled, missile using solid fuel and with a radar designed to
>> defend against targets up to a range of seventy kilometers guys.'
>>
>> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Gf32zNzcg: 2:06-2:19]
>>
>>
>>
>> Gil, David (2024) "Borrowing within Malayic: The Role of Exotericity", in
>> A. Adelaar, T. Hoogervorst and S. Moeimam eds., Lexical Borrowing in Island
>> Southeast Asia; History, Impact and Analysis, WACANA, Journal of the
>> Humanities of Indonesia, 25.3:480-530.
>>
>>
>>
>> Available (I think ...) at:
>>
>> *https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1793&context=wacana&fbclid=IwY2xjawIPRG1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbvMebp1dJohe2Yfe2CYXCdcsbXM2oF388B1K8yDGChgM3QkjgPM9tgJ-w_aem_W0nMR116BUrGL9lv-6PbOg
>> <https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1793&context=wacana&fbclid=IwY2xjawIPRG1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbvMebp1dJohe2Yfe2CYXCdcsbXM2oF388B1K8yDGChgM3QkjgPM9tgJ-w_aem_W0nMR116BUrGL9lv-6PbOg>*
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 5, 2025 at 2:01 AM Andrea Sansò via Lingtyp <
>> lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> My colleague and I are investigating an Italian term of address/vocative
>>> that appears to have recently developed new functions. The term in
>>> question, *raga*, is a shortened form of *ragazzi/e *(meaning
>>> "boys/girls" in the plural). While our analysis and interpretation of the
>>> data are still preliminary, we have observed that *raga *is no longer
>>> used exclusively in its original function as an attention-getter when
>>> addressing multiple interlocutors. Instead, it has acquired various
>>> functions in spoken language. Below is a preliminary list of these new
>>> functions:
>>>
>>> - Expressing the speaker’s surprise (with both positive and negative
>>> nuances)
>>> - Intensification/boosting
>>> - Marking reported discourse
>>>
>>> These new functions represent significant departures from the term's
>>> original, diachronically primary use. For instance, in some cases,
>>> *raga* is directed at a single hearer, contradicting its original
>>> plural reference. In others, the term occurs at the right periphery of an
>>> utterance, contrasting with its traditional use as a vocative or
>>> attention-getter, which is typically confined to the left periphery.
>>>
>>> We are aware of several studies addressing the pragmatic evolution of
>>> terms of address in European languages. For example, in a contrastive study
>>> on *güey* in Mexican Spanish and *alter* in German, Kleinknecht and
>>> Sousa (2017: 257) argue that “terms of address have the potential to
>>> intensify the affectivity displayed by the speaker. In this capacity, they
>>> may be employed as linguistic strategies to enhance the expressive and
>>> illocutionary force of utterances.” Furthermore, these expressive uses can
>>> serve as the basis for more specific functions related to turn-taking and
>>> information management. In Mexican Spanish, for instance, *güey* can
>>> occur in the right periphery to emphasize the preceding segment, as
>>> illustrated in the following example (from Kleinknecht & Sousa 2017: 275):
>>>
>>> [image: image.png]
>>>
>>> While some of the functions we have identified for *raga *align with
>>> common uses of terms of address (e.g., intensification/boosting), others
>>> are perhaps less conventional. To situate our research within a typological
>>> framework, we would like to ask list members for examples of non-canonical
>>> uses of terms of address, particularly from non-European and non-LOL
>>> languages. We would especially appreciate examples involving terms with
>>> inherently plural reference, such as *raga*, as well as any references
>>> to relevant literature.
>>>
>>> I will be happy to post a summary of the responses if needed. Thank you
>>> in advance for your help and insights.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> Andrea Sansò
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lingtyp mailing list
>>> Lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lingtyp
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> David Gil
>>
>> Senior Scientist (Associate)
>> Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
>> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyDeutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany <https://www.google.com/maps/search/Deutscher+Platz+6,+Leipzig,+04103,+Germany?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> Email: dapiiiiit at gmail.com
>> Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
>> Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-082113720302
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> Michael Fiddler
> PhD candidate
> Department of Linguistics
> University of California, Santa Barbara
> website <https://sites.google.com/view/michaelfiddler/home?authuser=0>
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