Tóngzhìin China: Language change and its conversational consequences

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Abstract
This paper discusses the use of the title of address,tóngzhì‘comrade’, in the People's Republic of China today. Empirical data are presented which were gathered to test a set of hypotheses about the unmarked and marked uses of this term. In its unmarked sense, it is a neutral term of address implying conventionalized solidarity. However, in its marked sense its use becomes a negotiation to change the social distance between Speaker and Addressee. We argue that tóngzhì has variable meanings and uses because its usage represents a language change in progress. Finally, we propose a general hypothesis that variation in linguistic forms such as tóngzhì is exploited by speakers to negotiate rights and obligations within a talk exchange. Speakers use the ambiguity which variable meanings and uses create as a cover for negotiating interpersonal position without going on record. We suggest that this possibility to exploit variation may explain how certain structures evolve in language and why they are maintained. (Sociolinguistics, conversational analysis, language change, terms of address, markedness, Chinese)