What’s in a Word? The Ubiquitous and Multidimensional Address Form hoca(m) in Turkish

Abstract

Like many other words, hoca(m) has undergone a historical development. Originally a religious term, hocam has turned into a widespread and multidimensional address form in Turkish academic settings expressing the sociosemantic notions of solidarity, equality, respect, intimacy, and distance. In this study, after tracing the historical development of the word hoca, the results of first-hand observation over a period of eight years in Turkish academic settings will be presented. Subsequently, the statistical analysis of the quantitative data collected through a questionnaire will be provided, which will be followed by participants’ comments and reflections on the use of this address form. All the results point to the fact that hocam is the predominant and pervasive address term in Turkish universities. It is hoped that the present study will make a contribution to the field of sociosemantics by introducing a unique case of an address form.