Address forms in Persian based on Iranian movies

Abstract

The present thesis: “Address forms in Persian language based on Iranian movies”, investigates address forms as socio-linguistic forms which are directly related to social factors such as age, gender and social class. In the Persian language there is a strong tradition of addressing each other in various ways, changing from one context to another. Addressing is a universal phenomenon, but the rules that govern the choice are different from one language to another. So, the hierarchical structure of a country’s society, the nature of peoples’ relationship, social class, the degree of intimacy and peoples’ attitudes effect on language specially in addressing form. In Iran, addressing title of a working class could be differ from a middle class addressing: a woman in working class, address her husband Mr. before his first name, but generally in middle class, she calls her husband only with his name. Education is a subcategory of social class is another factor which affects address terms. When an educated person addresses somebody, he or she tries to be more polite than ordinary people even in anger which is a fact for changing address term and turn it to discourteous addressing. Another factor which is important in addressing is age. As Iranian culture respects elder people, addressing form which is used towards them is more polite than compare to younger addressee. The context of situation and the level of intimacy are two other important factors which have an effect on addressing terms. When members of family address each other only by name, strangers address each other by honorific titles like Mr., Mrs or their family name. Strangers also use plural form of pronoun to address each other. Key Words: Address Terms, Social Class, Gender, Age, Politeness, Intimacy, Context of Situation.