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their counterparts’ mother, sister, sisterhood, and daughter should be specified. This practice contributes to the invisibility of women in linguistic representation. 2.2 Naming and addressing terms Naming and addressing practices have been an important aspect of the study of language because of the insights they provide into the world and social hierarchies of a culture. Naming practices in English reflect the patriarchal nature of society, in which a male is the head of the family and descent, kinship and title are traced through the male line. The fact that men have a predominant prerogative for women in patriarchal societies reflects, contributes and perpetuates the social inequalities between the sexes. 2.2.1 Naming and its culture connotation Personal names for boys and girls often reflect stereotyped features of femininity or masculinity in a culture, not except for English country. Boys are often given names which associates with strength, power and heroism, whereas girls have names reflecting grace and other “feminine” virtues, so they are frequently named after flowers or cute small animals or jewels. For example: Flowers----Rose, Lily, Violet, Flora, Rosalind and Lillian; Little animals----Deborah, Salmon, Vanessa, Gemini; Jewelry----Pear, Ruby, Jewel, Jade, Amber, Crystal, Jet, Diamond, Margaret and Judy; Other female names reflect certain traditional values of the society, and also express some virtues and qualities. For examples: Catherine – faithful; Nancy – elegant; Jenny – gentle; Karen – pure; Alice – beautiful; Julia – robust. While males’ names are closely related to religion, profession and war, which depict power and intellect and indicate positiveness and strength. For example: Religion----Abraham, Peter, John, Alexander, Apollo and Pluto; Profession----Smith, Carpenter, Longman; War----David, Harold, Herman, Raymond, Mark, Martin, William, Victor and Walter; Despite of various connotations of male and female names, some names are shared by both sexes, usually marked by one letter being different, for example, Leslie— Lesley; Lindsey—Lindsay; Francis—France. What is more, some names given to girls are diminutives of men’s or boy’s, such as Georgina from George, Glenda from Glen, Roberta from Robert, Christiana from Christine, Jacqueline from Jacque, Pauline from Paul, etc. This confirms once again that names of men are viewed as primary and those of women as secondary, a direct reflection of the traditionally dominant position of men in society. This is deep-rooted in social reality, which will be discussed in next chapter. Another convention in naming practices is that a wife takes a husband’s surname. When a woman is referred to by her husband’s first name, as in Mrs. John Smith, she is regarded both subordinate and invisible. And there is no exception for women of high social status. Here are two typical famous women: Mrs. Thatchel, the former Prime Minister in UK. Few people know her own family name. Mr. Clinton’s wife, as a liberated woman, kept her name after marriage. However, in order to help her husband in the election, she had to change her names. The dominance of a man’s name on marriage indicates that the woman is merely an extension of her husband or part of her husband’s estate. In English, male names are often used to represent a country or nation. For example, John Bull represents the UK or the En