Pragmatic and Sociolinguistic Dynamics of Address Forms: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Modern English

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the functional-pragmatic and sociolinguistic dimensions of address forms in Modern English. Moving beyond traditional syntactic descriptions, the research treats the address as a "nuclear unit" of the Communicative-Pragmatic Situation (CPS). By examining a corpus of over 10,000 examples, the study establishes a "pragmatic chain" (who–to whom–where–when–why) that governs linguistic selection. Key findings indicate that the pragmatic potential of address is constrained by social selectors—such as nationality, age, gender, and class—but remains highly dynamic, as emotional context can radically transform neutral markers into emotive-evaluative ones.