Kinship Terms in the Address Practices in Contemporary Chinese, Korean and Japanese: A Sociocultural Analysis with a Focus on the Cases of Aunts and Uncles.

This study examines the use of kinship terms in address practices among native speakers of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, focusing on how these languages differ in addressing parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. Survey results reveal that Chinese speakers most strictly adhere to traditional norms rooted in Confucian values, consistently using kinship terms to show politeness and respect for senior relatives. Korean speakers display moderate flexibility, with younger generations more open to addressing aunts and uncles by name, while Japanese speakers show the greatest variability, frequently using personal names or nicknames for aunts and uncles, reflecting evolving social attitudes and localized family practices. These findings highlight both shared cultural values of deference toward elders and distinct linguistic and sociocultural factors shaping address practices in each language community.