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Rules of address in Italy: a sociological survey1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Elizabeth Bates  and
Laura Benigni
Elizabeth Bates
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
Laura Benigni
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychology CNR – Rome
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Abstract

Studies of address forms have almost always concentrated on a single set of rules, as they would be used by one idealized speaker. We proposed instead to examine the use of address pronouns in Italy as a function of the classical sociological parameters of age, sex and social class. A modified version of the Brown and Gilman questionnaire was administered in interviews with 117 Italian adults. Results indicate a powerful age—class interaction in overall degree of formality. Young upper class Ss are by far the least formal of the social groups — a particularly interesting finding, since Brown and Gilman's original study was drawn entirely from this population. Lower class youth are the most formal, with older Ss falling in between. Most Italians are likely to expect to receive the same address form that they give; the only clearly functional non-reciprocal relationships involve differences in age rather than status. The relationship of the results to political measures are also discussed. Several issues are examined from the point of view of sociolinguistic ‘ideals’ tapped by the questionnaire, vs. actual behavior in social settings. (Address forms (T/V pronouns); social class, age, and sex differences; Italy (Rome).)

Type
Articles: Conversational devices and structures
Information
Language in Society , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , December 1975 , pp. 271 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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