学年论文.docx

学年论文.docx

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学年论文

吉林华桥外国语学院

学年论文

（2007级）

姓名：

董晏伯

学号：

1201070703

院系：

应用英语学院

专业：

英语（金融与保险）

二〇一〇年七月

TheInvestigationontheDifferenceofUtterancebetweenMaleandFemale

男女话语风格差异的调查

姓名：

董晏伯

院系：

应用英语学院

专业:

英语（金融与保险）

吉林华桥外国语学院

JilinHuaqiaoForeignLanguagesInstitute

TheInvestigationontheDifferenceofUtterancebetweenMaleandFemale

Ⅰ.Introduction

TheInvestigationontheDifferenceofUtterancebetweenMaleandFemale .InfactIusethekeyword“sex”inmypaperratherthan“gender”,thecurrentone,atfirst.Ipreferrednottousethewordgenderbecauseitwastechnicalterminlinguistics,andmostoftheissuesdealtwithinoursocietyfocusedon“sexism”.However,thecurrentvogueistouse“gender”ratherthan“sex”forthetopicsdiscussedtoday,andIhavethereforeadoptedithere.Furthermore,thesexnormallyreferstobiologicalandphysicaldifferencesbetweenthemaleandfemale,whereasgenderinvolvesmoresocialandculturalelementsinvolvingthewholegamutofsocialandculturaldifferencesbetweenthemaleandfemale.Therefore,inthisviewgenderrolesratherthansexrolesshouldbetheconcernindiscussion.

Ⅱ.TheOriginandEvolutionofGenderDifferencesinLanguage

2.1TheOriginofGenderDifferencesinLanguage

Languageisanencyclopediaofstudyingthesocialbehavior;languageisalivingfossilofrecordingthesociallife,whichisaffectedbytheviewsandvaluesofsociety.Infact,languageitselfcannotbeeithergoodorbad,whichservesnotonlyasamirrorofourwholesocietybutexpressesandreflectsthewholesocialreality.Genderdifferenceexistinginlanguageisalinguisticphenomenonandisboundupwiththesocioculturalorigin.InthelinguisticliteratureperhapsthesemostfamousexamplesoflinguisticdifferentiationbetweenthesexesisfoundintheLesserAntillesoftheWestIndiesamongtheCaribIndians.“ItisreportedthatmaleandfemaleCaribsspokedifferentlanguages,theresultofalong-agoconquestinwhichagroupofinvadingCarib-speakingmenkilledthelocalArawak-speakingmenandmatedwiththeArawakwomen.ItissaidthatthedescendantsoftheseCarib-speakingmenandArawak-speakingwomenhavebeendescribedashavingdifferentlanguages,becauseboyslearnCaribfromtheirfathersandgirlslearnArawakfromtheirmothers.”①Thisspecificphenomenonofusingdifferentlanguagesbybothmenandwomeninthesametribe,whichclaimsofthegenderdifferenceinlanguage,isoriginatedinalong-agosociety.

2.2TheEvolutionofGenderDifferencesinLanguage

In1975,RobinLakoff,arepresentativeofthistheoryexpressesherideainherworksLangueandWomen’sPlace.Shearguesthatpeopleusedifferentvariantsoflanguage,whichexpressestheinequalityoftheirrolesinsociety.Inheropinion,inthemale-dominantsociety,thespeechmadebymaleisvaluedasstandard,whilethatoffemaleisdeprivedfromthatofmale.Itimpliesthefemaleregardthemselvesasinferiorstotheoppositesex.

However,thistheoryhasbeendoubtedsincewiththedevelopmentofhumansociety.Asthewomenliberationrisessharply,manychangeshavebeentakenplaceinthefieldofwomen’srole.Thelinguisticsnoticedthatthestyledifferencesinthemaleandfemaleconversationarealsoconstrainedbysuchdiscoursestylesassetting,topic,amountofutterance,andsocioculturalconventions,etc.ratherthanonlygender.Thoughthereexistthedisputesbetweenbinarythinkingandpluralisticthinkingonstudyoflanguageuseandgendertoday,sociolinguisticstudyfallsintothelattercategory,andanewschoolappearsgradually.Therefore,maleandfemalediscoursestylesshiftfromstatic-and-macroresearchtodynamic-andmicroresearchinlanguageuseandgenderstudy.

Ⅲ.GenderDifferencesinLinguisticLevel

3.1PhonologyandIntonation

Thedifferencesofphonologyandintonationarepartlydecidedbythephysiologicalstructuraldifferences,andpartlyrestrictedbythefactorssuchastraditionalculture,socialeconomicstatus,speakers’personalities,andcommunicationalbackground.②

Phonologicaldifferencesbetweenthespeechofmenandwomenhavebeennotedinavarietyoflanguages.InmodernEnglishphonology,thefemalevoiceusuallyhasdifferentcharacteristicsfromthemalevoice.Take“soft”asaninstance,femaleusuallypronouncesitas[soft],maleas[so:

ft].Anotherexample,“girl”iscalleda[gεəl]byfemale;[gз:

l]bymale.“InScotlandschoolgirlspronounce‘t’inwordslike‘water’andgotmoreoftenthanschoolboys,whoprefertosubstituteaglottalstop.InMontrealmanymorementhanwomendonotpronouncethe‘l’inthepronounsandarticlesil,elle,la,andles.”③

Theintonationpatternsofmenandwomenalsohavedifferences.ThereisaveryinterestingexamplefromanEnglishwomanwhowasadvisedtospeakmorelikeamaninordertofillapositionthatpreviouslybelongstomen.MargaretThatcherwastoldthathervoicedidnotmatchherpositionasBritishPrimeMinister:

shesoundedtoo“shrill”.Shewasadvisedtolowerhervoice,spokemoreslowly,andadoptedanauthoritativespeakingstyle.Itoccurredtoherthatshecouldmakehernewstyleakindoftrademark,oneeitherwelllikedbyheradmiresordetestedbyheropponents. 

Furthermore,womenusecertainpatternsassociatedwithsurpriseandpolitenessmoreoftenthanmendo.“Lakoffsayswomenmayansweraquestionwitharisingintonationsentencepatternusuallyassociatedwithaquestionratherthanthefallingintonationsentencepatternassociatedwithmakinganaffirmativestatement,”④e.g.,

   Husband:

Whenwilldinnerbeready?

   Wife:

（usingthisrisingintonationpattern）Oh...aroundsixo’clock...?

AccordingtoLakoff,womendothisbecausetheyarelesssureaboutthemselvesandtheiropinionsthanmen,sothattheyusearisingintonationpattern.Incontrast,menusuallytendtousehighfallingintonationattheendofsentences,sothattheirvoicesoundsresoluteandaffirmative.Forexample,

Iwishyou’dtryit.  Male:

  _ — _ \ _

                    Female:

 _ — _ ∕ _⑤

Accordingtothe“doublevaluestandards”,men’ssocialvalueisdecidedbytheirvirtualability,whiletheirmannerandbehaviorarenotextremelyimportant.Butwomen’ssocialvalueisdeterminedbytheirappropriateandgracefulimages.Asanexternalexpressionwomen’sspeechactbecomesaveryimportantsocialvaluetoappraiselanguagepoliteness,appropriatespeakingstyle,andspeechstrategy,whichthenbecometheconcretecontentandrequestofwomen’ssocialbehaviorstandards.

3.2Lexicology

Intheareaoflexicology,manyofthestudieshavefocusedonEnglish.InEnglish,Lakoffclaimsthatwomenaresensitivetocolorwordsbutmostmendonot.AndthroughNowaczyk’sexperiment,theresultshowsthatmenusuallyuserestrictedcolortermsratherthanelaboratedcolortermslikemauve,beige,aquamarine,lavender,taupe,andmagenta,whichisusuallyadoptedbyfemaleusually.

Lakoffalsomaintainsthatadjectivessuchasadorable,charming,divine,lovely,andsweetarealsocommonlyusedbywomenbutonlyveryrarelybymen.Womenarealsosaidtohavetheirownvocabularyforemphasizingcertaineffectsonthem,wordsandexpressionssuchassogood,fun,lovely,divine,precious,darling,andfantastic.

Euphemismisoneofthemostimportantrhetoric,existinggenerallyinlanguages.Itisakindofself-defendingandself-comfortingdesiretomanypeople,especiallytofemale.AninterestingexamplesaysthatthereisapersonvisitedaMadame’shusband,buttheMadametoldthefriendherhusband“isburningwithalowblueflame”,thatistosayherhusbandwasdrunk.Touseeuphemismcandodgeembarrassingexpressionforwomen.Asfollowingexamples:

 ⑴Ihavetogopowdermynose.→

  Ineedtousethewashroom.

⑵Johnsmokesapackofcigarettesaday.→

  Johnsmokesalotofcigarettes.

Theuseofeuphemismalsohasgreatdifferentbetweenmaleandfemale.Themaleliketousenit,dawn,piss,fuck,andblasttoshowtheircurse;butfemalealwaystrytheirbesttoavoidthesewordsbyuseofOhdear,Goodness,Gracious,Dearme,etc.,forexample,

   Female:

Ohdear,you’veputthepeanutbutterintherefrigeratoragain.

   Male:

Shit,you’veputthepeanutbutterintherefrigeratoragain.

Therecertainlyaregenderdifferencesinvariouslanguagesinlexicology.WewilllookatsomeoftheevidencethattherearegenderdifferencesinJapanese.Amaledescribehimselfas“boku”whereasafemaleuse“watasi”or“atasi”toshowtheyarewomenwhentheyspeak.Usuallywomenandchildrenuse“wa”or“kasira”toendasentence,butmenseldomdothat;theyusuallyuse“ne”or“kana”.

3.3Syntax

Inmaleandfemaleverbalcommunication,Lakoffclaimsthatbecausewomenarelesssureandaffirmativeofthemselvesandtheiropinionsthanmen.Theyoftenliketoaddtagquestiontostatement,e.g.,“Hecan’tdothat,canhe?

”,“Thatwasprettysilly,wasn’tit?

”.Ontheotherhand,theuseoftagquestionbyfemalecanachievethreegoodeffectsasfollows:

Firstly,itmayconfirmwhethertheinformationreliability,e.g.,“Johnwasill,wasn’the?

”.Secondly,itmaysoftentheexpression,e.g.,“Passthebooktome,willyou?

”.Thirdly,thespeakerisexpectedtogivethehearerasignal:

itisyourturnyoutosayatthepresent.Itcanimpeltheconversationtomoveforward,e.g.,“Itisreallyaniceday,isn’tit?

”.Tagquestioncanprovideenoughinformation,andmaketheirowntopiccanbeacceptedbyotherswhocansimplyuse“yes”or“no”toreplyeven.Besides,femaleprefertopronouncelike“we”and“you”assubjecttoshowtheirconsiderationandcareinconversation,e.g.,“Wewillgiveyouourbestservice.”Sometimestheyals