gendered languages the case of english and romanian.doc

8/10/2019 Gendered Languages The Case of English and Romanian.doc

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GENDERED LANGUAGES: THE CASE OF ENGLISH AND

ROMANIAN

Costin Valentin Oancea

Universit o! "#c$arest

Intro%#ction:

We are surrounded in our everyday lives by powerful commonsense ideas about speech

which tell us that men and women communicate and use language in different ways.

Nowadays, the field of language and gender is very active in sociolinguistics causing an

explosion of research in this domain. A milestone in the study of gender differences is

Robin Lakoffs book Language and Womens Place published in !"#$ in which she

distinguishes between womens languageand mens language. %he aim of this paper

is threefold& to discuss gender differences in 'nglish, present different opinions in thelinguistic literature and establish whether Romanian makes gender(based distinctions,

based on the research of )ornoiu *++, +- and on a research pro/ect that 0 conducted

among Romanian 1.A. students at the 2niversity of 3ucharest.

&' Gen%er %i!!erences in En(lis$

1eyerhoff *+4& +! states that in the !"-s, it was not at all unusual for a

sociolinguist to describe their interests as being 5language and sex6. Nowadays, the term

sexhas largely been replaced by the term gender. 3efore embarking on our discussion

about gender and language, first a distinction must be made between two terms& sexand

gender. According to 'ckert and 1c7onnel(8inet *+9& ! sex is a biological

categori:ation based primarily on reproductive potential, whereas gender is the social

elaboration of biological sex. 8ender builds on biological sex, it exaggerates biological

difference and, indeed, it carries biological difference into domains in which it is

completely irrelevant. ;or instance, there is no biological reason why women should wear

skirts and men not, or why women should have red toenails and men should not. %rudgill

*+& 4! claims that 5languages differ considerably in the extent to which sex

differences are lexicali:ed.6 )e provides an example from 8erman where it is necessary

to specify whether a friend is a male, Freund, or female,Freudin. 0n Romanian is exactly

the same,prieten5male friend6 andprieten5female friend6. 0n 'nglish there is no such

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distinction. 1eyerhoff *+4& +! explains that the term sex is restricted in

sociolinguistics and it refers to a biologically or physiologically based distinction

between males and females, as opposed to the social notion of gender. Genderis used in

sociolinguistics to indicate a social identity that emerges or is constructed through social

actions. %his distinction is important becausesexmust be understood as something that

we are born with andgenderas something that defines us, as a social variable.

0n the linguistic literature one of the most important phonological differences

between the speech of men and women can be found in 8ros


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differentiation formerly existed in other 1uskogean languages, but that in these

languages the womens varieties have died out. %his is confirmed by the fact that in

?oasati itself it was only the older women who preserved the distinction forms. Hounger

women and girls used the male forms. Another important aspect in ?oasati is that older

speakers, especially men, tended to say, when asked, that they thought the womens

variety was etterthan that used by men. *%rudgill, +& 4"

As already stated above, a milestone in the study of gender differences is Lakoff

*!"#$ which marked a turning point in sociolinguistics. Lakoffs paper was severely

critici:ed because her claims 5are based on no empirical evidence6 *7oates !""9 and

5Lakoffs evidence is purely impressionistic6 *7oates, !""9, )olmes *+!, 7heshire

*+>. 0t is true that Lakoffs paper lacks empirical evidence and it is out(of(date,

however, it represents a good starting point in the analysis of gender differences.;rom a morphological and lexical point of view, Lakoff *!"#$ asserts that

women use colour words like& eige! ecru! mau"e! la"ender! a#uamarine, but most men

do not. )owever, a remark is in order here. Although most men do not use these words,

they have them in their vocabulary. Also, they can certainly distinguish these coloursI it is

/ust that they simply prefer not to use these terms. %he American sociolinguist further

claims that ad/ectives such as adorale! c$arming! di"ine! lo"el%! sweet are also

commonly used by women and very rarely by men. =he also conducts an experiment toidentify lexical characteristics of womens language and mens language in point of

vocabulary, by presenting a pair of sentences to native speakers of standard American

'nglish&

*! a. Jh dear, youve put the peanut butter in the refrigerator again.

b. =hit, youve put the peanut butter in the refrigerator again.

We can predict that the first sentence was uttered by a woman and the second one by a

man. While this was possible in the mid(seventies, nowadays this is no longer true. 1ore

and more women and teenagers *namely girls use the second sentence in the 2nited

=tates. Also, this may not be true for native speakers of 3ritish 'nglish, because, the

3ritish usually do not use the words$it. 0nstead ofs$itthey would probably say lood%

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$ell,lime%,rudd%, or damn it. ;rom this point of view Lakoffs work now seems out(

dated and out of tune with modern attitudes.

Language commentators have little trouble in identifying what they think to be

womens language, though their lists usually have no validity. %he view that women use

certain words and have a special vocabulary has been held over three centuries, as

)ornoiu *++& !!# puts it. =he provides a list of words that have been ascribed to

women&

a$&! o$&! suc$! so! 'ine! 'lirtation! "ast(l%)! 'rig$t'ul*!-thcentury

implicit! splendid! prett%! $orrile! unpleasant*!"thcentury

lo"el%! darling! sweet! too! aw'ull%! sweetie! doll! all rig$tie! its% its%! mau"e!

wonder'ul! di"ine! dream%! $ea"enl%! cute! powder room! $ank%! $one%! poor

t$ing! $orrid! ecru*+thcenturyJne can notice that ad/ectives and adverbs are more predominant in womens vocabulary.

According to 7oates *+>&!, commentary on gender differences in vocabulary was

Kuite widespread in eighteenth(century writings, as demonstrated below. %he following

excerpt written by Richard 7ambridge for *$e Worldof !+ Eecember !#$> provides

some insight into how womens language was perceived in those times&

0 must beg leaveto doubt the property of /oining to the fixed and permanent standard of

language a vocabulary of words which perish and are forgot within the compass of a year.

%hat we are obliged to the ladies for most of these ornaments to our language, 0 readily

acknowledge. *as Kuoted in 7oates, +>& !

What Richard 7ambridge is actually implying is that womens vocabulary is ephemeral

and what they say is not important. Jn the other hand, at the beginning of the twentieth

century, the Eanish linguist Jtto Mespersen analy:ed the evolution of vocabulary, and

how women and men use vocabulary. )is research pointed out that it is actually men whointroduce 5new and fresh expressions6 and not women but men are 5the chief renovators

of language6. *Mespersen, !"++& +>#

7oates *+>& ! claims that women use excessive adverbial forms. Lord

7hesterfield writing in *$e Worldof $ Eecember !#$> also complains about womens

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excessive use of certain adverbial forms& 5A woman is "astl%obliged, or "astl%offended,

"astl%glad, or "astl%sorry.6 *italics mine, 7.J

A seventeenth century writer comments on the differences between mens speech and

womens speech. According to him&

%he men have a great many expressions peculiar to them, which the women understand

but never pronounce themselves. Jn the other hand the women have words and phrases

which the men never use, or they would be laughed to scorn. %hus it happens that in their

conversations it often seems as if the women had another language than the men. *as

Kuoted in %rudgill *+& 4$

;rom the evidence supplied by this seventeenth(century writer, it seems certain that,

although there were clear differences between mens and womens speech, only a

relatively small number of vocabulary items were involved.

All these seventeenth and eighteenth century writers define language in terms of

male languageI thus, the way men talk was seen as the norm, while womens language

was seen as deviant. Womens language was also described as weak and unassertive, in

other words, as deficient.

0n the !"-s, sociolinguists turned their attention to broader aspects& theconversational strategies characteristic of female speakers. According to 7oates *+#,

Lakoff *!"#$, these strategies include&

a minimal responses *e.g.%ea$! a$a! m$m

b lexical hedges or fillers *e.g.+ mean! %ou know! ma%e! well! %ou see! sort o'

c tag Kuestions *e.g. ,$es adorale! isnt s$e-

d rising intonation in declaratives

e empty ad/ectives *e.g.eauti'ul! adorale! di"ine! c$arming! lo"el%! cute

f colour terms *e.g.eige, mau"e! ecru! a#uamarine! magenta

g intensifiers such as&just! so*e.g.0msoglad youve come

h Bsuper(polite forms * indirect reKuests, euphemisms

i Bhypercorrect grammar *consistent use of standard verb forms

/ emphatic stress *e.g.+t was a /+LL+01* per'ormance.

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k commands

l directives

%he 'nglish language, as we know, makes certain gender(based distinctions, for example&

gentleman2lad%I actor2actressI duke2duc$essI king2#ueenI waiter2waitressI widower2

widowIac$elor2spinster, etc.

%he enguin Eictionary of American 'nglish 2sage and =tyle *++ has a rather

peculiar entry about the distinction between ac$elorandspinster. A movie review said&

5William )urt plays 8raham )olt, a male spinsterwho shocks neighbours when he

decides to adopt a !(year(old.6 *italics mine, 7.J

51ale spinster6 is a contradictory form /ust as 5female bachelor6 is. A spinster is a

female by definition& =he is a woman beyond the usual age for marrying who has not

been married. %he actor described in the movie review plays a bachelor. Numerousreliable dictionaries define ac$eloras 5an unmarried man6. )owever, this definition is

not complete. %he word usually implied that the man *i is of the usual age for marrying,

or beyond, and *ii has never been married. At least two dictionaries recogni:e

ac$eloretteand the synonymous ac$elor girl. %here is another interesting use of the

word ac$elor. All college graduates irrespective of sex are bachelors of artsCscience, or

some special field, whereas only one male can be a plain bachelor.

All the above arguments and examples clearly indicate that men and womendo

use language differently. Jne can notice that these differences between men and womens

use of language are hardly something new. %hey have been recorded and discussed since

the seventeenth century. )owever, these differences tend to change from one generation

to the next one.

0n Wodaks *!""#& > view 5what it means to be a woman or to be a man @also changes

from one generation to the next andvaries between different raciali:ed, ethnic, and

religious groups, as well as for members of different social classes.6 Womens talk has

evolved throughout the years, and it is no longer seen as weak and unassertive, as it was

seen in the eighteenth century for example. Also womens social status has changed.

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)' Gen%er %i!!erences in Ro*anian

%he first linguist to have ever studied gender(related stereotypes in Romanian was, to my

knowledge, )ornoiu *++, +-. 0n her hE thesis *)ornoiu, +-, she analy:es

womens speec$and mens speec$, focusing more on Romanian. 3uilding on )ornoius

analysis, 0 conducted a survey among Romanian 1.A. students, studying at the

2niversity of 3ucharest. %he aim of this survey was to identify some gender(related

speech differences in Romanian. 9 graduate students *!$ males and !$ females, aged ++(

+4 were interviewed. 0 devised a set of sentences *given in ! below to incorporate the

linguistic variables as proposed by Lakoff *!"#$, to distinguish between mens language

and womens language. %he informants were asked to choose between 3 *for those

sentences they think are uttered by a man,F*for those sentences they think are uttered

by a woman and 34F *for the sentences they think are uttered by both a man and awoman. All their answers have been reduced to percentages.

*! %he list of sentences devised for this survey is the following&

!. AOtept sP mP suni mQine.

+. 1i(am cumpPrat o pereche de pantofi negri Oi o cPmaOP albP.

9. 1i s(a stricat maOina Oi am rPmas Qn cmp.

>. PpuOP, poSi sP Qmi aduci o scrumierPT$. 'ste o persoanP adorabilP, nu cre:iT

4. 'ste o persoanP drPguSP.

#. AO vrea sP plec Qn vacanSP vreo douP sPptPmni.

-. 7e dracu se QntmplP cu tineT

". =acoul tPu verde(mPr se asortea:P cu pantalonii Pia de velurP.

!. 1P simt incrediil+de bine.

!!. 1P simt bine.

!+. Umi place modul tPu de a acSiona.

!9. 1P doare(n fund de ce :ice.

!>. Nu Si se pare genialP ideea luiT

!$. Aoleu, am uitat sP cumpPr ciocolatP.

!4. 'ste aOa de frumosF

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+' Concl#sion

0n this paper different opinions concerning gender differences were presented. Jbviously,

men and women douse language differently, not only in 'nglish but in Romanian as

well. 0t was shown that Romanian also makes gender(based distinctions. =wearing and

taboo language are also used by women to a certain extent. ;rom a stylistic point of view,

women appear to be more flexible than men, and more polite. 0t was noticed that

womens tone is mild, shows solidarity while mens tone is aggressive and they interact

in ways which maintain and increase their power. 8ender is a key component of identity.

Jur social background and the social environment in which we live also have a great

influence on our vocabulary, in the way we use language. %hese gender(based differences

will always exist and they will evolve and change from one generation to the other.

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3ibliography

7hambers, M.?, !""+. 5Linguistic correlates of gender and sex6,5nglis$ World2Wide!9,

+& !#9(+!-7heshire, Menny, +>. 5=ex and gender in variationist research6, in M. ?. 7hambers, .

%rudgill and N. =chilling('stes *eds., *$e $andook o' language "ariation and

c$ange, >+9(>>9, Jxford& 3lackwell

7oates, Mennifer, !""9. Women! men and language, second edition, London X New Hork

7oates, Mennifer, +>. Women! 3en and Language6 a sociolinguistic account o' gender

di''erences in language, 9rdedition, 'dinburgh& earson

7oates, Mennifer, +#, 8ender. *$e /outledge 7ompanion to ,ociolinguistics, edited by

7armen Llamas, Louise 1ullany and eter =tockwell, New Hork& Routledge

'ckert, enelopeI 1c7onnel(8inet, =ally, +9. Language and Gender, 7ambridge&

7ambridge 2niversity ress

)arrison, ?. Eavid, +#. W$en languages die. *$e extinction o' t$e worlds languages

and t$e erosion o' $uman knowlwdge, Jxford& Jxford 2niversity ress

)olmes, Manet, !""$. Women! 3en and Politeness, London and New Hork& Longman

)olmes, Manet, +!.0n introduction to sociolinguistics, London& Longman

)ornoiu, Eiana, ++. 58endered Language6, 0nalele 8ni"ersit9ii :"idius! seriafilologie, Y000& !!$(!9>

)ornoiu, Eiana, +-.Language and Gender. 0n 0nal%sis o' 7on"ersational ;iscourse

in 5nglis$ and /omanian, 7onstanSa& Jvidius 2niversity ress

Mespersen, Jtto, !"++.Language6 +ts 1ature! ;e"elopment and :rigin, London& 8eorge

Allen X 2nwin

Lakoff, Robin, !"#$.Language and Womens Place, New Hork& )arper X Row

1eyerhoff, 1iriam, +4. +ntroducing sociolinguistics, London and New Hork&

Routledge

*$e Penguin ;ictionar% o' 0merican 5nglis$ 8sage and ,t%le, ++. New Hork& enguin

%rudgill, eter, +. ,ociolinguistics6 0n introduction to language and societ%, >th

edition, London& enguin

!!


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Wardhaugh, Ronald, +4. 0n +ntroduction to ,ociolinguistics, $th edition, Jxford&

3lackwell ublishing

Wodak, Ruth, *ed. !""#. Gender and ;iscourse, London& =age.

!+


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!)aas, as Kuoted in Wardhaugh. +4.0n introduction to ,ociolinguistics, $thedition, Jxford& 3lackwell ublishing.+=hows emphatic stress.

gendered languages the case of english and romanian.doc

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