讓我們談談文化差異之Ｗａｙｓ ｏｆ Ａｄｄｒｅｓｓ（稱呼方式）

In recent years， the trend of many English-speaking people has been to address others by using the first name——Tom， Michael， Linda， Jane， etc.——rather than calling the person Mr. Summers， Mrs. Howard or Miss Jones. This is especially common among Americans， even when people meet for the first time. This applies not only to people of roughly the same age， but also of different ages. It is not a sign of disrespect. It is not at all uncommon to hear a child calling a much older person ——Joe， Ben， May， Helen， etc. This may even include the child’s parents or grandparents. People of different social status do the same. For example， many college students call their professors by their first names. The professors do not regard this as a sign of disrespect or familiarity， but rather， as an indication that the professor is considered affable and has a sense of equality. This， of course， is quite counter to Chinese custom. One can imagine the reactions of adults if a child were to call a grandparent by his or her first name， or a student to do the same in calling a teacher. A quick reprimand， and possibly even a spanking for the child， would be sure to follow.

One can infer from the preceding that the Chinese custom of addressing members of one’s family， relatives or close neighbors as 二哥，三姐，四嬸，周大伯，should not be carried over into English. In English， the name alone， whether it be for man or woman， would ordinarily be enough. The main exception are addressing one’s parents (Dad， Mom， Mum， or Mother)， one’s grandparents (Grandpa， Grandma) and sometimes an older relative (Aunt Mary or Uncle Jim). Notice that the given name， and not the family name， is used. And even with relatives， Americans tend to use just the first name and leave out the term of relationship. It should be mentioned that in English Brother Joseph or Sister Mary would commonly be understood as referring to persons belonging to a Catholic group or some religious or professional society.

Another common Chinese form of address is the use of a person’s title， office， or occupation， such as 黃局長，林經理，馬校長. But one seldom hears English speakers addressing others as Bureau Director Smith， Manager Jackson， Principal Morris. In English， only a few occupations or titles would be used: Doctor——is common for those who have qualified in the medical profession， and Judge——for those authorized to try cases in law courts; Governor——and Major may be used for those who hold such offices， although often without name. The same with Professor. However， there are very few others.

It should be noted that in addressing military officers in Chinese， 陳司令，郝團長，梁排長 are common. English-speaking people， however， tend to use the rank of the person， and not the command or duties that he has been assigned; for example， Captain Johnson， rather than Company Commander Johnson， Admiral Benjamin， rather than Fleet Commander Benjamin.

English translations of Chinese works usually keep such forms as Grandpa， Auntie， Sister-in-law， but they sound strange to the English ear. In English-language writings about China， such terms are used in order to keep or give a Chinese flavor to the story. Certain of these terms， though， are especially troublesome. How to address a teacher has long been a problem. Should it be Teacher or Teacher Zhang? Neither of these is in keeping with English custom. Should we say Comrade or Comrade Li? These involve using the term comrade， which is not widely accepted in non-socialist countries. Or should we simply follow the English custom and call the teacher Mr. Zhang， Mrs. Yang， Miss Fei? All of these would sound terrible to Chinese if school-age youngsters were to do so.

Other difficult terms are 師傅，警察叔叔，解放軍叔叔. To translate the former as master carries the idea of masterservant relationship， or a relationship that 師傅 does not have in present-day usage. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the term is now widely used as a general form of address for people in various occupations， for both men and women， and not just for veteran craftsmen or workmen， chefs or automobile drivers， as in earlier times. Uncle policeman for 警察叔叔 sounds very strange——perhaps one reason is that uncle connotes endearment， whereas policeman does not have the same connotation to English ears. P.L.A. Uncle for 解放軍叔叔not only sounds strange， but often leaves people wondering what is meant for， for very few people outside of China know what the letters P.L.A. stand for.

Interestingly， there is no general term in English for getting the attention of a stranger， or of a person whose name we may not know. In Chinese we have 同志 and the now fashionable 師傅. Then what do people do in English if such a need arises? Depending on the situation， English custom might suggest using some such expression as Excuse me， Pardon me， or in England， I say there. Expressions like Hey， or Hey， you or You， there are used， but are not considered polite. Often， people use a way that needs no language. They simply clear their throat loudly， or make some noise or gesture to attract the person’s attention.

編輯/孫櫟櫟