The use of forms of address in a context of close relationship

This part of the discussion will focus on the data illustrated in Table 4.9 and Figure 4.1 and will focus on the terms that were employed by the two age groups in addressing members who have close relationships with the speakers; parents, siblings/husbands. As displayed in Figure 4.1, the participants showed relatively similar behaviour in their use of forms of address in female-female and female-male interaction in a context of close relationships. They employed 50 per cent of the total use of forms of address in each interaction. The data reveal that the highest percentages were for the use of kinship and family terms (30 per cent in female-female interaction and 27 per cent in female-male interaction). Fourteen per cent and 12 per cent of forms of address were also used as first names in female-female and female-male interaction respectively.

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17 Table 4.9 Forms of Address Used in Close Relationships

F-F F-M Total

N % N % N %

First names 40 27 34 23 74 25

Kinship and family terms 87 59 80 55 167 57

Nick names 7 5 6 4 13 4 Endearment terms 13 9 13 9 26 9 Tekonyms 0 - 4 3 4 1 Religious expressions 0 - 5 3 5 2 Politeness markers 0 - 3 2 3 1 Total (%) 147 100 146 100 293 100 1 Figure 4.1

In addition to the percentages of the total use of each category of forms of address used by the subjects of the two age groups, the following section will discuss the use of terms employed to address relatives and members who have close relationships to the speakers in more detail.

Addressing parents

In their requests to parents, the participants employed various linguistic modifiers and showed a higher tendency to show intimacy and closeness to their mothers and a high degree of awareness in their use of politeness strategies in addressing their fathers. In addressing their mothers, the data show that the subjects used the forms yummah همَي ‘mother’ and ‘ummii, يمأ ‘my mother’, in addition to the form

mama, امام ‘mammy’. While both forms yummah and 'ummii are used in spoken Saudi Arabic as

14% 30% 2% 4% 0% 0% 0% 50% 12% 27% 2% 4% _1% 2% _1% 50%

First names Kinship and family terms

Nick names Endearment terms Teknonymes Religious expressions Politeness markers Total (%)

Forms of Address Used in Close Relationships

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traditional forms, the form mama was used more frequently by the YAG subjects and is considered a more modern form of address. Additionally, the participants used the form ‘umaimtii يتمَيمأ (the nickname for ‘ummii ‘mother’) as a means of emphasizing the close relationship with the mother. As with directness strategies, addressing parents shows that the subjects tended more to show their close relationship to their mothers by using various endearment expressions. In requests to their mothers, for instance, some participants used politeness markers such as law samahtii, يتحمَس ول ‘if you permit’ while other participants employed endearment expressions such as: habibtii, يتبيبح ‘my love/my sweetie’, ya

ba’ad eddinia ‘oh, you are equal to the world’ ايندلا دعباي, ya ba’ad galbii يبلق دعباي ‘oh, my heart/darling’, َ ya ‘oyounii ينويعاي ‘oh, my eyes/darling’.

It is also important to mention that one of the common features in Arabic address system; the use of contracted terms of address with the vocative particle ya which stands for ‘oh’ in formal interaction such as ya 'ustathah ةذاتسأ اي ’oh teacher’ or such as ya hilwaah ةولح اي ’hey sweetie’ in informal contexts. The vocative ya is mainly used in the Arabic addressing system to attract the hearer’s attention.

When addressing their fathers, the participants used the form yubah,هبي ’father’, the form baba, اباب ’dad/ daddy’ and the form ‘ubouy, يوبأ ‘my father’. The traditional forms were represented by both yubah and 'ubouy, while the form baba is a more modern form in the spoken Saudi variety. Both traditional forms yummah ‘mother’ and yubah ‘father’ are used more frequently in Najdii Arabic, the spoken variety in

the middle region of Saudi Arabia. In addressing fathers, modals such as mumkin ‘is it possible/please’ were also employed to show deference.

Addressing siblings

When addressing their sisters, the data showed that the participants employed reciprocal personal names, nicknames and formulaic endearment expressions both separately and in conjunction with the vocative particle as in:

53. Mona, ya galbii …

..يبلقاي ،ىنم Mona, (oh) my heart (darling)…..

However, some OAG participants used the forms wana ikht-is, ستخا اناو ‘and I am your sister’, ikhtii يتخا ‘my sister’ and both terms are used to define the addressee as a sister and as an instance of the very close relationship. Consider the following expression:

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ستخا اناو يعمَسا .اهسبلابو يل نتزياج ستعاسو ةمَيزع يدنع انأ ،

“Listen and I’m your sister9_{, I have a party and I like your watch and I’m going to wear it.”}

The data show that the subjects of both age groups used various strategies to address their brothers, the most frequent being reciprocal personal names. As with their sisters, the participants employed both nick names and endearment terms. Kinship terms e.g. ‘ukhouy يوخأ ‘my brother’ were also used to address brothers for the same purpose i.e. showing intimacy to the hearer.

Addressing husbands

Since husbands represent persons who have both a close social distance and equal power status, the subjects employed relatively similar strategies as with their siblings: for example, reciprocal personal names, nick names and endearment terms.

However, some OAG subjects employed other strategies such as teknonyms (the use of the name of the first born son to address his parents): abu Abdulaziz زيزعلا دبع وبأ ‘father of Abdul-Aziz’. Other terms such as ’ubouna انوبأ ‘(hey) our father’ and abu el’eyaal لايعلا وبأ ‘father of the kids’ were also used in addressing husbands as an informal expression that reflects the very close social relationship.

According to Abuamsha (2010), endearment terms amongst middle aged spouses are mainly used in private. Additionally, the use of teknonymous forms is usually one of the strategies to show deference and intimacy between the interlocutors, especially when they are in front of other people (Abuamsha, 2010). Additionally, the use of nicknames is one of the features that distinguishes addressing females and males in a context of close relationships.

For the same purpose of showing intimacy and playfulness nicknames that are usually derived from the personal names are used in the Arabic address system to interact with persons who are close in social distance and of the same age or younger than the speaker. Table 4.10 shows some of the nicknames that are usual in Saudi Arabic and reported in the data of the current study.

9 _{The use this form i.e. adding the suffix –is to the end ikht-is is used in traditional Najdi dialect that is more common}

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18 Table 4.10 Some of the Common Nicknames in Saudi Arabic

Female Male

Name Nickname Name Nickname

Sarah/Summaih/Samar Soso Umar Ammoory

Fatemah Fattoom/fofo Ahmed/Muhammed Hamoody

Leena/Alaa Lolo Sami Sammooy

Hadiyah Haddo Khaled Khalloody

Ghiadaa/Ghadah Ghaddoo Abdullah Aboody

Lateefah Lattoof Sameer/Samer Sammoor

The following section will examine the address system and terms employed by the two age groups to address individuals in distant relationships.