The interplay of linguistic universals and cultural knowledge in personal address: ColombianMadreterms

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Abstract
A general question that communication theories seek to answer is what kinds of resources and knowledge must be drawn upon for communication to take place. This essay proposes that the question may usefully be pursued through investigation of personal address. It elucidates ten address terms in Colombian Spanish derived from the central term madre, “mother.” From the data, a functional model of personal address is generated which incorporates both universal resources for communication (the ubiquitous phenomenon of personal address, universal semantic principles that reflect basic human experiences, and metaphorical usage) and cultural resources (a particular set of address terms, a range of intention and interpretation that may be realized, and a system of cultural premises that organizes and makes sensible the terms and actions that constitute the system). Extensions of the study to other forms of personal address and other kinds of communication behavior are suggested.

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