Use of proper names in forms of address (on the example of the linguistic behaviour of young poles in Vilnius)

In communication proper names (first names and surnames) function as identifiers and therefore are often used in forms of address. Their usage, however, is condi¬tioned culturally, environmentally and regionally. The purpose of this article is to show the scope of the use of proper names, their syntactic function and pragmatic connotations in the Polish language in Lithuania. Linguistic data analysed in the article was gathered in 2010-2011 using the method of questionnaires among students. The data consist of 570 speeches, classified both in terms of intention (requests, wishes and congratulations), as well as their addressee, which represents distance relationships. The analysis of the data revealed that different combinations (pan/pani + first name, pan/pani + first name and surname, pan/pani + surname) in contemporary Polish in Lithuania, that co-exists at the crossroads of different cultures, have different pragmatic value in comparison to general language and, therefore, have a different range of use. Another peculiarity of Polish regiolect is the possibility to use first names and surnames in distance relationships as honorific personal pronounsVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij