A Concise Analysis of Semantic Changes in Address Terms——Taking“xiaoji?”and“tóngzhì”as Examples

摘要

Prevalent address terms are dynamic along the timeline of social development. Despite the newly-emerged forms like"meinü"and"shuaige", meanings of"xi?oji?"and"tóngzhì"have also experienced a discursive history. And different meanings in different historical periods reflect changes in social life and the evolution of people's mind, or precisely, people's cognition. It gives a brief discussion of these semantic changes and probes tentatively some reasons both sociologically and cognitively.