Linguistic aspects of 老/lao/, 大 /da/ and 小/xiao/ in Chinese nominal addresses: analysis of La fortaleza asediada (《围城》/weicheng/)

Abstract

In China the nominal addresses are common elements in the personal interaction. 老 /lao/, 大 /da/ and 小 /xiao/, indicators of the age of the people, are used to form titles of professions, posts and social status, which have to do with their special signification in the Chinese culture. On the other hand, they are used, with the kinship names and family names, to denote and connote different interpersonal relations, because they are expressions filled with feelings. This paper explores their semantic and pragmatic characteristics with a presentation of the nominal addresses formed with 老 /lao/, 大 /da/ and 小 /xiao/ and their translation into Spanish in La fortaleza asediada.