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Switching number in pronouns as social indices in Dream of the Red Chamber

Issue: Vol 1 No. 2 (2016)

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Abstract:

The role of pronouns as indications of power and solidarity in social interactions has long been a fascinating topic, especially within the Indo European languages. It is much more complex in a traditional Chinese community, in which group identity and group awareness are always above that of an individual. The family is a strictly hierarchical community, generally governed by age and patriarchal hierarchy, from grandparents to parents. This study examines a particular phenomenon of switched number in the pronouns in Dream of the Red Chamber. For example, plural pronouns are used to refer to a singular referent and vice versa. It shows that one has to understand the usage of these pronouns in the Chinese context in which the interlocutors are well aware of the social hierarchy. The pragmatic use of these switches indicates the attitudes of the speakers toward the people they are speaking to or referring to. The switching of pronoun number is a form of social indexicality, showing attitudes in the context of hierarchical social network.

Author: Cher Leng Lee

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References :

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