摘要
Semantic transfer of kinship terms in address forms to nonkin has always been an intriguing topic to researchers from different fields, anthropologists and sociolinguists alike, whose investigations involve data from various cultures. This study focuses on eight Chinese kinship terms used in twenty-one address forms for addressing nonkin in newly created occupations and practices during the recent economic reform in China, in an attempt to identify the driving force behind such transfer. By examining the use of these kinship terms in addressing nonkin in the economic reform, this study compares its findings to those from earlier studies and has found surprisingly that except gender, the other distinctive features, such as consanguinity, affinity, seniority, and generation, have all become neutralized in the semantic transfer, driven chiefly by the nonkin＇s occupational status. The results from this study demonstrate that the ＂categorical falsity＂ evidenced in the semantic transfer of kinship terms in address forms to nonkin is in essence a manifestation of performing an attitudinal ＂speech act＂ by the general public about how the nonkin＇s occupational status is evaluated in the economic reform.
一直以来，人类学家和社会语言学家对亲属称谓用于指称非亲属的语义迁移非常感兴趣，他们研究不同文化中的语义迁移情况。本研究以八个汉语亲属称谓为对象，研究它们在近年来的经济改革中被用于二十一个非亲属的职业称谓中的情况，并试图分析这种语义迁移背后的驱动力。和既有研究成果相比，本文独特的发现是：除了性别之外的其他区别性特征，包括血缘关系，姻亲关系，年龄，代际身份等，都在这种语义迁移中被中化。这种中化主要是由这些非亲属的职业地位驱动的。本研究的结果显示，亲属称谓用于指称非亲属这一语义迁移中的“分类错误”是公众评价该非亲属的职业地位的一种“态度言语行为”。
