Vocative functions of diminutives in English prose literature for children

Abstract

The current article deals with English diminutives from the perspective of Speech Act Theory formulated by J. Searle and supplemented by other scholars (e.g. D. Wunderlich). In the focus of the research are the diminutive-related vocative speech acts which are used in addressing the participants of speech situations and contribute to establishing the addressee. In the arrangement of relations and interactions between participants of communication, there have been found only two components: the addresser and the addressee. The empirical material for the study is based on popular works by modern writers of English prose literature for children such as A. Ahlberg, R. Dahl, E. Nesbit, J. Wilson. The choice of the target texts results from their antropocentricity and childcenteredness. Vocative speech acts perform two communicative functions: a) calls are aimed at catching the addressee’s attention; b) addresses are aimed at maintaining or emphasizing the contact between speaker and addressee. Among the diminutives used in vocative functions there have been found first names, family names, terms of kinship and descriptors. First-names diminutive forms are most recurrent in the vocative speech acts. It results from the fact that the addressee in juvenile prose literature is a child. Most of the first names in the diminutive form are used to express a positive attitude to the addressee. There has been found only one example of a family-name diminutive in the vocative function, whose purpose is to express a negative attitude to the addressee. Besides, diminutives in the vocative function complement other speech acts such as directives, commissives and representatives. Diminutive vocatives either intensify or weaken the illocution of the speech act they complement, and express positive or negative attitude to the addressee.