对“小姐”与“madam”词义嬗变的社会语言学思考

A sociolinguistic thought on the change of the connotation of "Xiao Jie" and "Madam

汉语中“小姐”一词的词义曾贬褒交替 ,不少媒体对此进行过激烈争辩。无独有偶 ,英文中“madam”一词也经历了类似的词义演变。文章透过激烈争辩的语言表象 ,从社会语言学的角度对两词的词义嬗变进行了理性分析 ,笔者认为 ,两词的词义演变反映了语言的发展规律 ,即反映了言语社区的地域分布特征 ;语言和经济的互动关系和称呼言语行为之性别差异。因此 ,不必要对两词的词义挫折莫名惊诧 。

The connotation of 'xiao jie ' in Chinese has been alternatively laudatory and derogatory. Many publications have had heated discussions around it. Similarly, 'madam' in English has also experienced the connotation change. The author of this paper has a rational thought on them in a perspective of sociolinguistics. He holds the view that the connotation change reflects the relationship between language and speech community; the interactive force between language and economy; the sex differences in addressing forms, and what 's more, it coincides the principles and tendency of the language development.