A study of interlocutor reference that significantly deepens our understanding of the ways in which self-other relations are linguistically mediated in social interaction, based on the analysis of Southeast Asian languages. Terms used by speakers to refer to themselves and their interlocutors form one of the ways that language expresses, defines, and creates a field for working out social relations. Because this field of study in sociolinguistics historically has focused on Indo-European languages, it has tended to dwell on references to the addressee-for example, the choice between tuand vous when addressing someone in French. This book uses the study of Southeast Asian languages to theorize interlocutor reference more broadly, significantly deepening our understanding of the ways in which self-other relations are linguistically mediated in social interaction. As the authors explain, Southeast Asian systems exceed in complexity and nuance the well-described cases of Europe in two basic ways. First, in many languages of Southeast Asia, a speaker must select an appropriate reference form not only for other/addressee but also for self/speaker. Second, in these languages, in addition to pronouns, speakers draw upon a range of common and proper nouns including names, kin terms, and titles, in referring to themselves and the addressee. Acts of interlocutor reference, therefore, inevitably do more than simply identify the speaker and addressee; they also convey information about the proposed relation between interlocutors. Bringing together studies from both small-scale and large, urbanized communities across Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia, this is an important contribution to the regional linguistic and anthropological literature.
Dwi Noverini Djenar is associate professor in Indonesian studies at the University of Sydney. Jack Sidnell is professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto.
Interlocutor Reference in Southeast Asian Speech Communities: Sociolinguistic Patterns and Interactional Dynamics Part 1: Systems Asymmetries in the System of Person Reference in Kri, a Language of Upland Laos Speaking of People in South-Central Java Part 2: Practices Vocatives in Javanese Conversation New Patterns, New Practices: Exploring the Use of English Pronouns I and you in Asymmetrical Relations in Kuala Lumpur (KL) Malay Talk Part 3: Intimacies "Respect those above, yield to those below": Civility and social hierarchy in Vietnamese interlocutor reference "Friends who don't throw each other away": Friendship, pronouns, and relations on the edge in Luang Prabang, Laos Interlocutor reference and deferential relations in Indonesian broadcast talk Part 4: Theories Interlocutor reference and the complexity of East and Southeast Asian honorific registers
"This book is a valuable contribution to the field of linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, and Southeast Asian studies. One of the book's many strengths is its decentering of European language ideologies about pronoun use that have long been privileged in linguistics.... Scholars interested in honorifics, (im)politeness, and hierarchy will learn much from this book."-- "Linguistic Anthropology" "Making a great contribution to the linguistic anthropology of Southeast Asia, Signs of Deference, Signs of Demeanour, edited by Dwi Noverini Djenar and Jack Sidnell, theorises the interlocutor reference practices of speech communities in diverse societies, while also illustrating sociolinguistic hierarchy and insights into social relations. . . . Moving beyond Eurocentrism, this volume stands firmly in the tradition of ethnographic research from an emic perspective by documenting the linguistic system of self-other relations."-- "Journal of Southeast Asian Studies" "The edited collection Signs of Deference, Signs of Demeanour is an important milestone in bringing the insights of linguistic ethnography into conversation with the field of Southeast Asian studies.... for those interested in Southeast Asian languages, if they are willing to make a little extra effort in order to grasp the theoretical architecture of the book, the case studies provide an excellent resource and entry point for examining in greater depth this crucial though understudied aspect of Southeast Asian languages."-- "Southeast Asian Studies"
