Dialogue in and between Different Cultures - International ...

The Impact of Socio-Cultural Aspects on Language in a Changing World 59
Furthermore, the names of monks also differ from the laymen. A layman has one
first name, a middle name and a surname. A Buddhist monk can be easily
identified by his name as it significantly differs from that of a layman as the
monk’s village/town is given first followed by one name - mostly derived from
Pali.
(14) Matale Seelaratana
town proper first name
“the monk Seelaratana from Matale”
3. Social and emotional distance
The social distance among laymen is expressed in the language reflecting the
respect one has for each other. The parents and teachers occupying the highest
position in the society next to Buddhist monks command a mark of respect from
all concerned. As Disanayaka (1993:124) observes “Respect for elders is
expressed in two ways, by means of social behaviour an by means of linguistic
etiquette”. He further states that “parents are above pronominal reference”
(1993:125) although Sinhala is a language with a large number of 2 nd person
pronouns (Ch. Premawardhena 2002a, 2002b) as the use of a pronoun for parents
denotes disrespect. Thus, one observes the heavy use of zero anaphora and
kinship terms instead of 2 nd and 3 rd person pronouns when referring to parents and
elders. In respect of teachers, the honorifics ‘Madam’, ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss 2 ’ are used in
place of 2 nd and 3 rd person pronouns as discussed in detail in Ch. Premawardhena
2002a; 2002b. It is significant that kinship terms are used as 2 nd and 3 rd person
pronouns even when one is not related.
(15) a:cci (“grandmother”), si:ya (“grandfather”), ayya (“elder brother”), akka (“elder
sister”), malli (“younger brother”), nangi (“younger sister”), ma:ma (“uncle”),
nænda (aunt) 3 .
Thus, a sense of belonging is expressed minimising the distance among strangers.
It is also safer to use a kinship term or an honorific instead of using the informal
2 nd person pronoun oya: when addressing a stranger and offending him as a result.
This familiar term is used among peers and when elders address the young, but
not vice-versa.
Apart from kinship terms and honorifics, professions are also used as
reference devices as a mark of respect. While the bilinguals use the profession
alone, the monolinguals add an honorific mahattaya (masc.) or no:na (fem.).
(16) doctor: dostara mahattaya, dostara no:na
2
The loan word from English is used to refer to female teachers as an honorific in Sinhala
/mis/.
3
While monolinguals use the kinship terms ma:ma and nænda, the bilinguals use the English loan
words and or /a:n²i/, some also using /æn²i/ instead of /a:n²i/.