gender Flashcards
define folk linguistics
opinions and beliefs that non-linguistics hold about language use
define marked terms
words which encode gender
define unmarked terms
words which don’t encode gender
define diminutive suffixes
using ‘ess’ or ‘tete’ on the end of words to make them ‘feminine,’ and therefore, smaller and weaker
define female
of women; related to or being of a women
define feminine
conventionally associated with women; conventionally thought to be appropriate for women. attributed to women; thought to be characteristics of women
define address terms
men are usually Mr, whereas women can be Mrs, Miss or Ms. women’s address terms are therefore impacted by marriage
define generic terms
‘man’ tends to be used to mean all people; generic term for all of us
define hedges
term which tends to include modal expression and vague terms, non-absolute language
define empty adjectives
adjective that adds little meaningful content
define tag questions
question added to the end of a statement but doesn’t change the statement
define coarse language
subset of language, considered impolite, rude or offensive
define hyper-correct language
non-standard use of grammar that results from over application of a perceived rule
define deficit theory
belief that the language used by women is inferior to that used by men
define dominance theory
belief that the language differences between men and women can be explained by the hierarchical dominance of men in society
define difference theory
belief that men and women have innate differences in the style and function of their speech and writing
deficit aproach
male language is seen as the norm, and women’s language is viewed as deficient to mens
what is the deficit approach based on
identifying women’s language as different to that of mens, and judging women as inferior
define pejorative
slur - word or grammatical form expression a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion or a lack of respect towards someone or something. also used to express criticism, hostility or disregard
what approach is Otto Jespersen’s theory based on
deficit
Otto Jespersen
‘language: its nature, development and origin’
offered observations about women’s conversational strategies, his book claimed that: women talk a lot, use half finished sentences, link sentences with ‘and’ because they’re emotional, use adjectives, use adverbs too much, tend towards hyperbole, smaller vocabulary than men
define ethnographic research
systematic study of groups of people and cultures carried out by close observation
what approach is Robin Lakoff’s theory based on
deficit
Robin Lakoff
made it clear that she was looking at a specific group of women but her findings were interpreted as relating to all women. labelled women spoken language in a way that implied almost complete dissimilarity from mens. believed women use features because they were uncertain, non-communal and didn’t want to impose their view
claimed women: speak less frequently, show they’re listening through minimal responses, speak quietly, use higher pitch ranges, greater range of intonation, use question intonation, overuse qualifiers, hedge, use super polite terms, apologise more, tag questions, special lexicon, empty adjectives
what approach is William O’Barr & Bowman Atkin’s theory based on
deficit
William O’Barr & Bowman Atkins
studied language in the courtroom to test if Lakoff’s ideas fitted specific context. found language use associated with women by Layoff was exhibited by men and women, whenever they were in a powerless situation. renamed these features of language ‘powerless language’ and pointed to women speakers who didn’t fit Lakoff’s claims
Labov: New York Department Study
‘r’ sound in ‘fourth floor’ that New Yorkers would associate with higher class of speaker, although his studies weren’t primarily focused on women’s language use. concluded that, like Lakoff, women are more likely to use the perceived correct term or the pronunciation with more social status attached to it. also found women often use hypercorrection and believed women used this in order to gain overt prestige, or respect from others for using the correct term
define hypercorrection
over application of a perceived grammatical rule
what approach was Peter Trudgill’s theory based on
deficit
Peter Trudgill
explored whether people from Norwich, pronounced the -ing suffix on verbs like ‘walking.’ his findings showed a marked difference between men’s and women’s use of the more ‘correct’ standard English form. as women used the standard form more frequently in formal situations, despite using nonstandard form in their casual speech. concluded that women saw the standard form as a way of signally or gaining social status and prestige
define gender paradox
describe how women prefer to use forms of language that seem to have more prestige, but have stated that women also tend more than men to use creative, newer forms of language
contextual reasons
- social status
- society’s expectations of women
- overt & covert prestige
- subordinate role of women
social status (contextual reasons)
social status is more important to women than men. speech can be taken as an indicator of social class, so women make more effort to conform to standard usage in an effort to demonstrate their respectability
society’s expectations of women (contextual reasons)
society expects ‘better’ behaviour from women than men. this begins in childhood when boys’ misbehaviour is tolerated more than girls’. society also expects women to play the dominant role in child rearing, including providing children with models of ‘correct’ speech for them to imitate
overt and covert prestige (contextual reasons)
approach shifts the focus towards men; why are they more likely to deviate from standard English? men associate non-standard forms with masculinity and toughness
subordinate role of women (contextual reasons)
suggests women’s speech patterns are created by their subordinate role within society. women must defer their speech to men. Lakoff’s features that reflect women’s lack of confidence and assertiveness, links to the dominance model
