Vietnamese Kinship Terms

Vietnamese is the language that is most closely associated with the country of Vietnam. Chinese has been a major influence on Vietnamese for centuries (Cima, 2016). “Vietnamese cultural contact with the Chinese goes back more than two thousand years” (Alves, 2006).  The concept of kinship is important in Vietnamese culture. The origins of kinship begin in the philosophy of Confucius. He placed the importance of the group ahead of individualism. This has permeated all aspects of Vietnamese society especially how they address others. “In line with classic Confucian sources, an individual can only lead a sensible existence by duly fulfilling the requirements associated with being involved in a range of social relations” (Szyman´ska-Matusiewicz, 2012, p. 97).  Due to the proliferation of this communal belief system, kinship terms are used in place of pronouns to emphasize a person’s place in the hierarchy of society and their relationship to the speaker. There is “no reciprocally used kin terms akin to English ‘brother-brother’, ‘cousin-cousin’, or ‘sister-sister’; rather, all terms specify the relative social status of speaker and hearer” (Sidnell & Shohet, 2013, p. 619).  This concept is best demonstrated in a passage from Luong (2012):

Sam (a friend of the researcher speaking to the researcher and then to a 16-17-year-daughter of Sam's elder sister): (1) Day la Hang, chau toi; Day la anh Hy, ban cau. "This is Hang, my niece; This is elder brother Hy, a friend of maternal junior uncle's [mine] (p. 292).

Instead of referring to the researcher as a friend, he is referred to as an older brother to show proper respect in regards to relationship and hierarchy.  The teachings of Confucius instilled a sense of community in the Vietnamese people… (Lantolf, 2000, p. 121).  This is manifested linguistically in the use of kinship terms in place of pronouns within the Vietnamese language (Ngo, 2007).

References:

Alves, M. (2006). Linguistic Research on the Origins of the Vietnamese Language: An Overview. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 1(1-2), 104-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/vs.2006.1.1-2.104

Cima, R. (2016). Vietnam - ETHNIC GROUPS. Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 24 September 2016, from http://countrystudies.us/vietnam/35.htm

Lantolf, J. (2000). Sociocultural theory and second language learning (1st ed.). Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press.

Luong, H. (1984). "Brother" and "Uncle": An Analysis of Rules, Structural Contradictions, and Meaning in Vietnamese Kinship. American Anthropologist, 86(2), 290-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1984.86.2.02a00050

Ngo, T. (2006). Translation of Vietnamese Terms of Address and Reference. Translation Journal, 10(4). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20070309161642/http://accurapid.com/journal/38viet.htm

Sidnell, J. & Shohet, M. (2013). The problem of peers in Vietnamese interaction. Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute, 19(3), 618-638. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.12053