[Lingtyp] Extended uses of terms of address/vocatives
Laura Arnold
Laura.Arnold at anu.edu.au
Tue Feb 4 23:28:38 UTC 2025
Hi all,
In Ambel (Austronesian > South Halmahera-West New Guinea), mákay 'young person, child (not kin)' can be used as an interjection to express disgust or revulsion. But I don't think I've ever heard it as a term of address (and I can't see any examples in the corpus), so I'm not sure if this meets your criteria. For more, see p623 of:
Arnold, Laura (2018). A grammar of Ambel, an Austronesian language of Raja Ampat, west New Guinea. University of Edinburgh PhD thesis (https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/31120)
All the best,
Laura
________________________________
From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Ellison Luk via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 5, 2025 9:18 AM
To: Michael Fiddler <mfiddler at ucsb.edu>
Cc: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG <LINGTYP at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Extended uses of terms of address/vocatives
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<mailto: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<mailto: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
On Wed, Feb 5, 2025 at 2:01 AM Andrea Sansò via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org<mailto: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.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
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David Gil
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Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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Michael Fiddler
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Department of Linguistics
University of California, Santa Barbara
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