Analysing Sherlock Holmes canon : terms of address in the Victorian era

Abstract

This paper aims to use existing research on the terms of address to examine the terms of address used by the Victorians. The Sherlock Holmes series was selected due to it being set in the Victorian era and its author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, having lived in the late Victorian era as well. Thus arguably, Doyle presented a more accurate depiction of speech during that time. Although much research has been done on politeness through time and culture, and there are substantial amounts of research done on terms of address today by sociolinguists, little has been done about usage of terms of address in the past. In addition, most studies on terms of address today employs the use of questionnaires to collect data, which could be manipulated by the interviewees. My research will employ the use of in-text speech instead, thus using a different methodology in procuring and processing the results. The results corroborate research of Terms of Address today, that social power and solidarity are decisive factors of whether a polite form or informal form of address is selected by the speaker. However, my study found other factors such as emotions may cause improper use of terms of address.