性别语言的对比分析.docx
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性别语言的对比分析
ComparativeAnalysisofGenderDifferenceinLanguage
Abstract
Withtherisingofwesternfeminisminthelastcentury,therewasaclimaxontherelationbetweengenderandlanguage.Manyvaluableacademicworkshavecomeoutinsuccession,andlinguistsissuedtheirvariousviewsonthistopic.Inparticular,afterthepublishingofLacoffLanguageandWomen’sPlace,itcausedalargenumberoflinguists’refuterandcriticism,thedebateonthisissuewasbecomingmoreandmore.ManythanksareowntoLacofff,whoarousedtheattentionoflinguistsinthisfield.Itispreciselybecauseofthis,itpromotedthestudyinthiscircle.
ThispaperaimstodiscussthegenderdifferencesindailyEnglishexpressionandconversation.Inthistext,theauthortakesthemethodofinvestigationandstudy;trytogiveaclearexampletothenativegenderlanguageinEnglish,andthenanalyzethespecificdifferencesbetweenmaleandfemale.Theauthorhopesthatpeoplecanachievecross-gendercommunicationsuccessivelyafterreadingthispaper.
Keywords:
genderdifferencesinlanguage;expression;conversation;communication
Chapter1Introduction
Inthedailylife,wecanfindaninterestingphenomenonthattherewillbealotofcommunicationalmisunderstandingbetweenmaleandfemalethoughtheyhavesimilarculturebackground.Theyareusingthesamelanguage,andwhydotheyfailatlast?
Afterstudying,thelinguistsfoundthatitisbecauseofgenderdifferenceinlanguage.Duringthepasttwodecades,genderdifferencesinlanguagehavebeenbecomingafocusofsociallinguists.Itisthefactrecognizedbylinguisticcirclethatthecommunicatorsofdifferentgenderusedifferentvocabulary,expressionandspeechstyle.
1.1ReviewofthePreviousResearchonGenderandLanguage
Genderdifferencesinhumanlanguagehavebeenregardedasindispensableandimportantfactorsinlinguisticsstudiesbylinguistsandsociologists.
Fromthelastcentury,therehadbeenmanyworksongenderdifferenceathomeandabroad.Historiansandlinguistsbelievethatgenderlanguageisoneoftheeternalthemesthatexistinavarietyofculturesindifferentlanguages.
Contemporary,theexpertswhostudygenderlanguagefromthelinguisticpointofviewisJesperson.
HepointedouttheuseofEnglishinthephenomenonofgenderinhisbook“ThedevelopmentandstructureofEnglish”whichwaspublishedin1923.In1929,Sapirissued“ThelanguageformofmenandwomeninYanalanguage”.in1970s’Well-knownlinguists,suchas来科夫、Trudgill,Zimmerman,West,Bollingerin1980s,andsomeotherstudiesmadethegenderstudydeeperconstantly.
Contemporary,worksonthedifferencesingenderlanguagehaveparticularlydevotedtothevariousmanifestationsofgenderdifferenceinlanguage.TheUnitedStatesanthropologistsandlinguistsGregputforwardthatnewlanguagesubject–genderlinguisticsshouldbeestablished,causedextensiveattentionofthelinguists,sociologist,andpsychologists.
1.2ImportanceofStudyingGenderDifferenceinLanguage
Languagecanreflectanation’scharacteristicsfromdifferentdimensions.Wherethereisanation,thereisacertainlanguageandcertaincommunicationalbehaviorsadaptingtoit.ThoughvariousgenderdifferencesinlanguagearejustsuperficialexpressionoftheEnglish-speakingsociety,itdoesimpliesvariousimplicationsofthesociety.Thus,analyzingthegenderdifferenceinEnglishlanguagecanhelpthelanguagelearnersunderstandthefactorsofcertainsocietytowhichthelanguagebelongs.
Therearesomelanguagesamongwhichthereexistdistinctmale–languageandfemale-language,thatis,onesetof,rulesformaleandtheotherforfemale.ThoughEnglishdoesnothavemarkeddividinglinebetweenmale–Englishandfemale-English,genderdifferenceindailyEnglishcommunicationbroadlyexists.Failtorealizethedifferencecanleadtomiscommunicationandinappropriatecommunications,whichcanbringaboutpress,intensifystrainedrelationship,produceentrust,non-effectiveworkperformanceandsoon.MaleandfemalediffervastlyindailycommunicationinEnglish.KnowingaboutthegenderdifferencescanguidetodeeperunderstandingoftheEnglishcultureandsociety,gainafurtherawarenessofthetargetlanguage,beingabletobetterunderstandEnglish,andmakeuseofitmoreeffectively.
Chapter2GenderDifferenceinLanguageExpression
Asakindofcommunicationaltoolsforhumanbeing,languagereflectsvarioussocialrelationshipsbetweenthemandtheirideas.Althoughmenandwomenusethesamelanguage,becauseofphysiologicalfactorsandsocialreasons,sometimesevenusethesamewordstoexpressthesamemeaning,heandsheshowgreatdifferenceinlanguageusing.Menandwomenusedifferentlanguage,andthatisgenderdifferenceinlanguage.
2.1PronunciationandIntonation
Generallyspeaking,womenprefertousemoreformalwords,standardpronunciation,adjustingtheirtone,speed,andvolumewhentheyaretalkingtoarouselistener’sresponse.Duringtheconversation,womenalwaysrisingintonationtomaketheirtonefullofemotion.
Whilementendtousewordsatwills.Theyuseflatorfallingintonation,soundsserious.Judgingfromtheirpronunciations,mendon’tcaremoreaboutstandardpronunciations,andtheirpronunciationsarelessaccuratethanwomen.
2.1.1Pronunciation
Itiscommonlyregardedthatfemaleismoreconcernedwithpronunciationthantheircounterparts.AccordingtoCoats,inmanyspeechcommunicated,femalespeakerstendtouseahigherproportionofprestigeformsintheirpronunciationthanmalespeakers,Inotherwords,itseemsthattheprestigeformshaveexertedastrongerinfluenceonwomenthanonmen.Linguisticformsandaccentsusedbywomenaremoreclosetothestandardformsthanthoseusedbymen.Thatistosay,femalespronounceEnglishmorecorrectlyandmorestandardthanmales.
2.1.2Intonation
Besidesusingmorestandardpronunciation,femalevariesmoreinintonationtoo.Femalearemorefrequentlyusehigh-risingterminalasends.
Aclassicalexamplecommonlyquotedislistedbelowtosupporttheideaoffemales’preferenceofusingrisingtone:
Husband:
Whenwillbreakfastbeready?
(↘)
Wife:
oh…Around7o’clock?
(↗)
Wecanseefromthedialoguethatthehusbandusesafallingintonationwhenaskaquestion,whichiscommonformales.Butthewifeoffersananswerwitharisingintonation.Heranswerwitharaisingintonation,whichconsistsoftwomeanings,
ⅰ)breakfastwillbereadyat7o’clock.
ⅱ)IsthattimeOKwithyou?
Becausesheisnotquitesureabouttheabovethings,thewifechoosestogiveananswerwitharisington,implyingthefactthatshewantsherhusband’sopinion.
Let’stakealookatotherexamples.
Whenanswerstherequest“MayIuseyourphone?
”femaletendstosay“Yes,please.(↗)”or“justamoment(↗)”witharisingintonationcomparestomaleswhotendtoresponsewithafallingtone.
2.2Vocabulary
2.2.1AdjectivesandAdverbs
Thelanguageofwomenisfullofstrongemotions;theyhaveatendencytouseexaggeratedwordstointensifyexpression,overstatingexpressiontomaketheirspeechessoundmorevivid,suchaslovely,sweet,fabulous,divine,cute,wonderful,dreamy,gorgeous,anddarling.Pleasetakealookatthefollowingexample.MaryandherhusbandTomarehavingtheirshoppingtogetherinaclothingshop.Theshopownertakesoutamen’sshirtforTom.
Shopowner:
Tom,foryoutotry.
Mary:
Oh,thatisfabulous.
Tom:
Yeah,itisgood.
DuringtheshortdialoguewecanseethatMarysaysthewordfabulous,whileTomsaysthewordgood.Fabulousismuchmoreexaggeratedthangood.
Besides“fabulous”,femalesusedifferentwordstodescribedifferentthings.Forexample,theexpressionlike“Howcuteheis”,“Youaresosweet”,“whatalovelydress”.What’smore,afterdinnerfemalewillsay,“Itisagorgeousmeal,thankyou!
”Whensheeatsdeliciouschocolate,shewouldliketosay,”Howdivinethechocolateis!
”or“YouhavemadethemostdivinechocolatecakeIhavetasted.”Whenshedescribeshergoodfriend,shewillsay,“Heisawonderfulfriend.”Butmalesseldomusethesewords;theymayusethecommonwords,likegood,delicious,kind,etc.
Astoadverbs,Jesperson(1922:
250)arguedthatwomenarefondofusingrhetoricaldeviceslikehyperboletoexpresstheirfeelings,soadverbsofintensitywillbemostlyfavoredbythemdisregardofthepropersituations.Femalesarefondofusingadverbialdevicessuchasawfully,pretty,terribly,vastly,nice,quite,so,such,very,really,absolutely,toexpresstheirfeelings.Takesoasanexample.
①Whengivesadangerousshowtotheaudience,
Wife:
Howmarvelous!
Husband:
Howabsolutelymarvelous!
②Whendescribesagirl,whowantstoseeherboyfriend,
Brother:
Sheisanxioustogotoseeherboyfriend.
Sister:
Sheisdesperatelyanxioustogotoseeherboyfriend.
Thegender-relatingadjectivesandadverbsdifferentlyusedbymalesandfemalesaresummarizedasbelow.
Adjectives
Adverbs
UsedbyFemales
Adorable,cute,divine,dreamy,heavenly,gorgeous,lovely,darling,exquisite,precious,sweet,nice,etc.
Awfully,pretty,terribly,vastly,nice,quite,so,such,very,really,absolutely,etc.
UsedbyMales
Seldomusetheseexaggerateadjectives.
Very,utterly,really,etc.
2.2.2ColorWords
Asidefromtheadjectivesandadverbsabove,genderdifferenceindailyEnglishcommunicationexistsincolorwordstoo.Aninterestingexperimentwasdonein1981byaCanadianProfessor.Intheexperiment,firstheshowedstudentstwentydifferentcolorsandthenaskedthemtowritedownwhatcolorstheyare.Theresuitsshowedthatwhilemalestudentscanonlynameforty-sixpercentofthetotal,thefemalestu