This article investigates forms of address, in particular the T/V distinction in German, in conversational interviews with German-speaking immigrants to English-speaking Canada and their descendants. From among 77 interviews conducted in two urban areas in Canada, we discuss instances of both the interactional use of and metalinguistic comments on forms of address. Our analysis is largely guided by conversation analysis and interactional sociolinguistics (e.g. Goodwin & Heritage 1990). Using Clyne, Norrby and Warren’s (2009) model of address as a backdrop, we investigate the construction of group identity and group socialization through the lens of positioning theory (e.g. van Langenhove and Harré 1993; Dailey-O’Cain and Liebscher 2009). This combination of analytical tools can explain shifts in both usage of and attitudes toward the T/V distinction that cannot be explained through language attrition arguments alone.
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Gillmann, Melitta & Wolfgang Imo
2021. „Du rotziger Blasebalckemacherischer Dieb! Solst du mich dutzen?“ – Funktionen des Personalpronomensduin Gryphius’ „Peter Squentz“. Zeitschrift für germanistische Linguistik 49:1 ► pp. 121 ff.
Fernández-Mallat, Víctor
2020. Forms of address in interaction: Evidence from Chilean Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 161 ► pp. 95 ff.
Kuepper, Marie-Christin & Anne Feryok
2020. Concept-based pragmatics instruction . Language and Sociocultural Theory 6:2 ► pp. 158 ff.
Covarrubias, Patricia O.
2015. Pronoun Functions. In The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction, ► pp. 1 ff.
Dieltjens, Sylvain M. & Priscilla C. Heynderickx
2014. We is More Than You Plus I. The Interpretation of the We-Forms in Internal Business Communications. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 44:3 ► pp. 229 ff.
Jarmila Mildorf
2012. Second-Person Narration in Literary and Conversational Storytelling. Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Studies 4 ► pp. 75 ff.
Norrby, Catrin & Jane Warren
2012. Address Practices and Social Relationships in European Languages. Language and Linguistics Compass 6:4 ► pp. 225 ff.
Proctor, Katarzyna & Lily I-Wen Su
2011. The 1st person plural in political discourse—American politicians in interviews and in a debate. Journal of Pragmatics 43:13 ► pp. 3251 ff.
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