Summary Details
| Query: |
Sum: women's language
|
|
| Author: | Hiroaki Tanaka | |
| Submitter Email: | click here to access email | |
| Linguistic LingField(s): |
Sociolinguistics
|
|
| Summary: |
Dear all, I posted a query on women's language about a month and half ago, on behalf of my student who is working on her graduation paper. I received 31 responses. The original query and the summary/comments are the following: (i)Please choose the best expressions between the two/three phrases below. Which do you use off-handedly, in everyday conversation? If possible, I'd like to know if you are male or female. Please check * mark from which you choose. If you have any comments, please don't hesitate to male them. (1) Which do you use off-handedly, in everyday conversation ? A. I have two tickets for the movie "Air Force One". Do you have time on Saturday ? B. Yes, I'd ( love / like ) to. love to 15 ( Male:4 Female:9 ?:2 ) like to 3 ( M;1 F;2 $B!K(B either 4 ( M;4 ) neither 2 ( M;1 F;1 ) (2) a. Everyone has ( his / his or her / their) off days. his 2 ( M:1 F:1 ) her 1 ( F:1 ) his/her 4 ( M:1 F:3 ) their 19 ( M:9 F:8 ?:2 ) These includes multipile answers. b. Someone knocked at the door but ( he / he or she / they ) had gone when I got downstairs. he 2 ( M:1 F:1 ) she 1 ( F:1 ) he/she 3 ( M:1 F:2 ) they 19 ( M:9 F:8 ?:2 ) The results of question (1) show that most of respondents who chose "would love to" was women. But male respondents also chose "would love to." Considering that all respondents who chose either are men, it is impossible to think that "would love to" is exclusively for women.. The followings are some of the comments from them: A: "love" is too strong, "like" is too unenthusiastic. B: "love" suggests more enthusiasm. C: Even among females, "I'd love to" sounds like airhead/bowhead speech. The followings are the comments about the question(2): D: It's always "they" for such cases in my speech, but occasionally "he or she" in formal writing. I find it very awkward and artificial. E: I use their/they in everyday speech but "his or her", "he or she" in formal speech, e.g.job interview. F: I know "they" is grammatically incorrect, However, in conversation, it is what I would most likely say and what I definitely most generally hear from others, educated or not. G: For me personally this is a deliberate choice, I believe that the third person is a viable nongendered pronoun. I do know other educated speakers of English(both genders) who deliberatelly use it(like me), and similar speakers who avoid it and who disapprove of its use as a "third person neutral". H: Usually I avoid these constructions and use plurals like "people" or "some people". I don't use "he". I sometimes use "they". The second question was like the following: (ii) The following example are from the real, quoted examples. Do you think that "sort of" in (1) and (2), and "isn't it" in (3) are spoken by women? (1) A: What was the nature of your aquantance with the late Mrs. E.D ? B: Well, we were , uh, very close friends. Uh, she was even "sort of" like a mother to me. male 7 ( M:4 F:2 ?:1 ) female 7 ( M:2 F:5 ) either 6 ( M:4 F:2 ) ? 5 ( M:1 F:3 ?:1 ) ?= impossible to choose (2) A: You know what? Arbitrage has put out this, "sort of" "Introduction To Tape" for the business schools. Why don't we put it in, and if you have any comments.... B: That would be great, thanks. male 3 ( M:1 F:2) female 9 ( M:3 F:6 ) either 8 ( M:3 F:4 ?:1 ) ? 5 ( M:2 F:1 ?:1) ?: impossible to choose (3) A: David? Is his name David? B: Yes, it is. A: That's funny. My name's David, too. B: That is funny, "isn't it"? male 2 ( M:1 F:1) female 11 ( M:4 F 7 ) either 8 ( M:6 F:1 ?:1) ? ( F:2 ?:1) ?: impossible to choose One person did not answer. Considering the comments, most respondents do not think that tag questions and hedges are exclusively used by women. The respondents' choice seem to be based on the contents of sentence, not on tag question and hedges. The following are some of their comments: A: I don't think that "sort of" sounds like a woman. B: The "sort of" does't sound like a man or woman, paticularly. C: While "isn't it" in (3) is a stereotypical usage assigned to women's speech, however I do not hear it among women unless they are being sarcastic. D: I wouldn't be surprized if women might say these "sort of" and "isn't it" phrases more than men, but certainly don't have a feeling that they do or even probably do from my own experience. E: "Isn't it" is found in both sexes. "Sort of"(or"sorta") is, I would say, more "male". There were respondents who commented about tag question and hedges: F: Using the tag question "isn't it" indicates a willingness to continue the conversation, to invite further commentary. It seems more female to want to share more information, to be polite enough to keep a conversation going. G: These "sort of" expressions indicate tentativeness, which is more of a female than a male trait. However, all (1)(2)(3) could easily be spoken by a male. For example, I know a male university lecturer who frequently says "sort of" to students in order not to appear too much of an expert and narrow the distance between himself and his students. So this type of expression is certainly not exclusively female. Thank you very much for all your help. She is eargently working on her paper now. Best wihses, Hiroaki Tanaka Associate Professor Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences Tokushima University, Japan 1-1, Minamijousanjioma, Tokushima, 770, Japan phone & fax: +81 886 56 7125 e-mail: hiro-t@ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp |
|
| LL Issue: | 9.155 | |
| Date Posted: | 03-Feb-1998 | |
| Original Query: | Read original query | |
|
Back |
||
|
|
||
|
Sums main page
|
||
|
About LINGUIST
|
Contact Us
|
Report Broken Link
While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents. |
|
