Terms of Address in Formal Settings by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Members in Minahasa

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church members in Minahasa used specific terms when addressing one another.The most dominating terms were 'brother, 'sister', 'sir', and 'ma'am'.The aims of this research were to identify and describe the terms of address used in the formal settings by the Seventh-Day Adventist members in Minahasa, and also to explain why they used specific terms when addressing one another.20 respondents from various background like pastors, teachers, office staffs, students, and common members, involved in this research.This research used qualitative method with non-participant observation approach and semi-structured interview to collect the data.In analyzing the data, the researchers applied the concept of Asymmetrical Use of the Terms of Address, the theories of Language Change and Language Preservation, and the Grammatical and Psychological Interpretations.Three categories of relationship were studied in this research, they were status-based, age-based, and educational levelsbased comparisons between the addressors and addressees.The results of this research were: (1) the Seventh-Day Adventist church members used seven kinds of terms of address, namely: title, first name, rank, pronoun, kinship term, nickname, and pet name, (2) there has been broadening of referents meaning of the terms of address of 'sir' and 'ma'am' and 'brother' and 'sister', (3) language preservation occurred to those terms, (4) the title term of 'sir' was used in symmetrical way, and (5) the terms of title of 'bapak' (Mr.) and 'ibu' (Mrs.) were considered more polite than the other ones.