A Descriptive Study on the Socio-Pragmatic Forms of Address Used by the Spouses

Abstract

Address forms that indicate close or distant relationship among people have been frequently researched in different contexts. However, in Turkish context, there is little research on the address forms between spouses in relation to different socio-pragmatic forms. To this end, the aim of this study is to investigate address forms of the spouses living in the city of Kars in Turkey. The participants of the study are randomly selected 207 married individuals, living in Kars province of Turkey. The criteria used in the selection of participants are: being married and having child(ren), living in villages and city centers, and having relatives. A questionnaire prepared by the researchers based on the literature search containing two sections was administered to the participants. Further, four open-ended questions were asked to elicit information related with how spouses address each other according to various socio-pragmatic situations. The results indicated that the spouses living both in villages and in city center address each other mostly with their names and love words while they are alone and that those living in city center use love words more than those who live in villages and that females use more love words than males. While they are with their children both males and females address each other mostly with names, love words and respect words, but males prefer names and respect words whereas, females prefer love words. The spouses living in city center addressing each other more with their names, love words and respect words as compared to those living in villages. With their fathers' in-law or mothers' in-law and with their friend groups spouses address each other mostly with names, love words and respect words but males prefer names more than females do. The results also indicated that the spouses living both in villages and in city center address each other mostly with their names and love words and respect words while they are with their fathers' in-law or mothers' in-law and with their friend groups but that those who live in the city center address their spouses with their names more than those who live in the villages. It is implicated that several factors such as age, gender, social statue and intimacy affect the use of the address forms.