Tu or Você? Sociolinguistics aspects of forms of address in Portugal and Brazil

Ana C. T. Williams, Ana C Thome Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

It is not necessary to speak a language that is different from another person in order to understand how communication between two individuals can be rather ambiguous. Scholars have studied this natural linguistic ambiguity, including the ambiguity that exists between native speakers of the same language. Tannen (1986; 1990) observed how men and women of the same culture, even in the same family, frequently misunderstand each other because they assume that the other person shares their thoughts, only to find out that they do not. In intercultural communication, the range of this ambiguity is even more evident. Scollon and Scollon (1996) offer various examples of the problems of cross-cultural understanding when two people with different languages and cultures communicate with each other in a third common language.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)85-99
JournalJournal of Intercultural Communications Studies
VolumeXIII
StatePublished - 2004

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Tu or Você? Sociolinguistics aspects of forms of address in Portugal and Brazil'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this