An Analysis of Chinese Address Terms From the Perspective of Speech Act Theory

 Address terms are an important resource for conveying relationships. In daily interactions, the use of address terms is unavoidable. Therefore, the choose of address terms is particularly critical to make communicate smoothly with people. Previous scholars have studied address terms from a wide range of perspectives. But there is not much research on Chinese address terms based on speech act theory, which is put forward by John Langshaw Austin. By observing communicative conversations, several findings have been emerged from the analysis. They are professional title, affectionate address terms, and common address terms. These findings express the existential significance of address terms, which are the premise for people to maximize their illocutionary act when communicating. Correct understanding and grasp of the use of address terms is conductive to unfolding the communicative dialogue more smoothly.