A Study of the Variation and Change of the Addressing Terms for Father

With our country's policy of reform and opening, the migration from the countryside to cities witnesses a great change of the speech communities.As any other word in communication, the addressing terms for one's father are also involved in a process of variation and change.By using questionnaire and observation, this paper studies the variation and change of the terms used by the local people of Kangbao County in Hebei province since 1970 to address their fathers, underlining the hidden historical social factors.A pattern of variation and change is found: Potential prestigious forms will take the place of the non-prestigious forms, while the replaced word will become one of the common varieties in verbal communication.