Użycie formy honoryfikatywnej 先生 (xiānsheng, „pan“) w języku chińskim
The use of the honorific 先生 (xiānsheng, “Mr.”) for women in Chinese

Summary/Abstract: This article is inspired by the ongoing discussion in the People’s Republic of China aboutaddressing recognized and respected women with the honorific form 先生 (xiānsheng= “Mr.”) although there is no grammatical gender in Mandarin, the term xiānsheng isusually applied when talking to men, but it also has a long tradition of use in referenceto prominent women. In order to verify previous research on Chinese society’s attitudetowards this form, the undertaken analysis concerned comments of Internet users aboutsix widely recognized Chinese women which were made under 23 videos on the Douyin(Tiktok) and Bilibili platforms. As for the latter platform, the analysis showed that thereare similar numbers of supporters and opponents of the use of xiānsheng, while on Douyinthe supporters of this form clearly dominate. The results of the present analysis differfrom those of previous studies, which may be due to differences in the selection of thegroup whose views were studied. The concluding section of the article presents suggestionsfor addressing recognized women in Mandarin that are free from sexism and consistentwith the spirit of equality.

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