SPEAKING THROUGH KINSHIP: CULTURAL INSIGHTS INTO ADDRESS PRACTICES IN KOREAN AND KARAKALPAK

• Dastan Tolibaev

  EFL teacher, Karakalpak State University named after Berdakh

  Author

Address terms are central linguistic resources through which speakers express respect, hierarchy, intimacy, and group belonging. In culturally rich contexts such as Korean and Karakalpak, nouns of address reflect deeply embedded social norms connected to kinship, age, community structure, and interpersonal obligations. This study provides an ethnographically informed comparative analysis of Korean and Karakalpak address practices, demonstrating how cultural values are enacted through language. Drawing on speech samples and secondary sources, the paper argues that while Korean emphasizes hierarchical alignment through honorifics and age-sensitive forms, Karakalpak prioritizes communal cohesion and relational warmth through metaphorical kinship extensions. The findings underscore the role of address terms as linguistic tools that mediate social relationships and encode cultural worldviews.

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