Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses
The purpose of this article is to summarize a number of specific pragmatic changes characteristic of the use of Russian terms of address, which we propose to call a gender shift. Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses consists in their non-standard use in the gender aspect, when addresses to wo...
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Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPA
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Шаги |
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| Online Access: | https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/250 |
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| author | Μ. A. Krongauz I. V. Fufaeva |
| author_facet | Μ. A. Krongauz I. V. Fufaeva |
| author_sort | Μ. A. Krongauz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of this article is to summarize a number of specific pragmatic changes characteristic of the use of Russian terms of address, which we propose to call a gender shift. Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses consists in their non-standard use in the gender aspect, when addresses to women, such as mamochka ‘mommy’, matushka ‘mother’, are used towards men, and typical addresses to men, such as tovarishch ‘comrade’, druzhochek ‘buddy’, chuvak ‘dude’, are employed with women. It is noted in the article that gender shift in pragmatics of terms of address occurs under certain conditions and signals specific types of attitudes towards the interlocutor: patronizing, as to an equal, friendly, etc. Thus, the use of feminine terms of address to men is associated with a patronizing position of the speaker, as a rule, older in age and higher in status. These terms of address express an affectionate, patronizing, good-natured attitude of the elder towards the younger. The use by men of familiar and even masculine terms of address to women can express an attitude towards a woman not just as an equal, but also as «their brother», acceptance into a community such as a «men’s club». At the same time, the use of familiar, friendly male terms of address in communication between girls may reflect a desire to transferred to the female community relationships similar to relationships in informal male communities. In all these cases, we are not talking about gender-neutral terms of address, but about a gender shift associated with desemantization (semantic depletion), which is felt by native speakers as a living process. Research methods were used to analyze corpora and conduct surveys. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-77c18e7b599c45e789fcae34d0bfd9eb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2412-9410 2782-1765 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPA |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Шаги |
| spelling | doaj-art-77c18e7b599c45e789fcae34d0bfd9eb2025-08-20T03:51:13ZengRussian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. RANEPAШаги2412-94102782-17652025-03-0111125226910.22394/2412-9410-2025-11-1-252-269239Gender shift in the pragmatics of addressesΜ. A. Krongauz0I. V. Fufaeva1Российский государственный гуманитарный университетРоссийский государственный гуманитарный университетThe purpose of this article is to summarize a number of specific pragmatic changes characteristic of the use of Russian terms of address, which we propose to call a gender shift. Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses consists in their non-standard use in the gender aspect, when addresses to women, such as mamochka ‘mommy’, matushka ‘mother’, are used towards men, and typical addresses to men, such as tovarishch ‘comrade’, druzhochek ‘buddy’, chuvak ‘dude’, are employed with women. It is noted in the article that gender shift in pragmatics of terms of address occurs under certain conditions and signals specific types of attitudes towards the interlocutor: patronizing, as to an equal, friendly, etc. Thus, the use of feminine terms of address to men is associated with a patronizing position of the speaker, as a rule, older in age and higher in status. These terms of address express an affectionate, patronizing, good-natured attitude of the elder towards the younger. The use by men of familiar and even masculine terms of address to women can express an attitude towards a woman not just as an equal, but also as «their brother», acceptance into a community such as a «men’s club». At the same time, the use of familiar, friendly male terms of address in communication between girls may reflect a desire to transferred to the female community relationships similar to relationships in informal male communities. In all these cases, we are not talking about gender-neutral terms of address, but about a gender shift associated with desemantization (semantic depletion), which is felt by native speakers as a living process. Research methods were used to analyze corpora and conduct surveys.https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/250pragmaticssemanticsform of addressdesemantizationsemantic depletiongender shiftwords denoting relationshipkinship termssecondary usepatriarchyequality |
| spellingShingle | Μ. A. Krongauz I. V. Fufaeva Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses Шаги pragmatics semantics form of address desemantization semantic depletion gender shift words denoting relationship kinship terms secondary use patriarchy equality |
| title | Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses |
| title_full | Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses |
| title_fullStr | Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses |
| title_short | Gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses |
| title_sort | gender shift in the pragmatics of addresses |
| topic | pragmatics semantics form of address desemantization semantic depletion gender shift words denoting relationship kinship terms secondary use patriarchy equality |
| url | https://steps.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/250 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT makrongauz gendershiftinthepragmaticsofaddresses AT ivfufaeva gendershiftinthepragmaticsofaddresses |