Sakul Kundra

Forms of address and reference terms vary across cultures and are closely linked to sociolinguistic dimensions such as cohesion, politeness, and power; however, there remains a significant gap in the literature concerning their use among Fiji Hindi speakers, particularly within the Bua speech community. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the natural conversations of 65 Bua Fiji Hindi (BFH) speakers, with a specific focus on the socio-pragmatic functions of address forms and reference terms. Employing a qualitative sociolinguistic approach, the research draws on fieldwork involving participant observation and semi-structured interviews, with all data subsequently transcribed and translated for systematic discourse analysis. The findings demonstrate that BFH speakers utilize a diverse range of address forms, including proper names, nicknames, titles, pronouns, and prefixes, whose selection is shaped by interactional context, relational dynamics, and communicative intent. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that variables such as power and social distance play a critical role in determining the distribution and differentiation of these forms. This study contributes to the broader understanding of the semantic and sociolinguistic dimensions of kinship and social relations in BFH, while also identifying emerging patterns in how speakers strategically employ address and reference terms to negotiate identity and interpersonal relations.

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