1. Classic Claim of the Carib Indians in West Indies 1
Extreme Claim that men and women speak two different languages:
"…when Europeans first arrived in the Lesser Antilles and made contact with the Carib Indians who lived there, they discovered that the men and women 'spoke difference languages'."
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 65.
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2. Classic Claim of the Carib Indians in West Indies 2
More Thoughtful Conclusion / Explanation
"it seems certain that, although there were clear differences between men's and women's speech, only a relatively small number of vocabulary items were involved. The men and women, that is, did not speak different languages. Rather, they spoke different varieties of the same language—the differences were lexical only."
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 65.
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3. Pronouns Male Female Other English he she it French il elle
Finnish hän hän
Chinese ta ta
他 (祂) 她 它 牠
Thai phom dichan
“I” “I” (between equals)
Chinese ni ni
你 妳
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 62.
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4. Koasati: Accounting for Gender Differences
Women’s Forms Men’s Forms
Older Newer
Conservative Innovative
(Evaluated as “better”)
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 69.
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5. Women and the Standard / Prestige Variety
“In all the cases examined, it has been shown that, allowing for other factors such as social class, ethnic group and age, women on average use forms which more closely approach those of the standard variety or the prestige accent than those used by men, although we cannot predict which form a given man or woman is going to use on a given occasion.”
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 70.
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6. Variation in Men’s and Women’s Speech in Detroit 1
Percentage of multiple negation used
Male Female
UMC
LMC
UWC
LWC
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp
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7. Variation in Men’s and Women’s Speech in Detroit 2
Percentage of non-prevocalic /r/ in Detroit Black speech
Male Female
UMC
LMC
UWC
LWC
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp
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8. Stratification according to Social Class and Sex
Montgomery, Martin An Introduction to Language and Society, second edition. London: Routledge, p. 152.
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9. Gender and Social Attitudes
"Gender differentiation in language, then arises because…language, as a social phenomenon, is closely related to social attitudes. Men and women are socially different in that society lays down different social roles for them and expects different behaviour patterns from them. Language simply reflects this social fact."
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 79.
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10. Changing Social Roles Changing Language
"If the social roles of men and women change, moreover, as they seem to be doing currently in many societies, then it is likely that gender differences in language will change or diminish also…."
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, pp
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11. Language and Gender
“Tendencies towards gender-based linguistic differentiation, then, are the result of different social attitudes towards the behaviour of men and women, and of the attitudes men and women themselves consequently have to language as a social symbol.”
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 4th edition. London: Penguin Books, p. 79.
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12. Brigham Young University
The Recognition of Sex-Linked Register by the Intermediate and Advanced ESL Student1
Robert L. Good
Brigham Young University
[1] This paper was originally presented at a conference of the Intermountain Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, October 15-16, 1982 and was published in ITESOL Papers: BYU. Vols. 3 and 4, , pp
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13. Survey M M/w M/W W/m W 1. “That’s a terrific story.”
2. “That’s an adorable story.”
3. “Damn it, the TV set broke!”
4. “Won’t you please close the door?”
5. “I was damn mad.”
6. “That was an adorable movie.”
7. “My goodness, that’s the President!”
8. “That’s a divine story.”
9. “I’ll be damned, there’s a friend of mine!”
10. “I was so tired.”
Edelsky, Carole Evidence for the Existence and Acquisition of an Aspect of Communicative Competence: Recognition of Sex of Speaker from Linguistic Cues—or—Knowing How to Talk like a Lady. Doctoral dissertation, University of New Mexico.
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14. Table 1 Variables and Classifications
Variable Classification
1 terrific MW
2 adorable W
3 damn it M
4 won't you please W
5 damn + ADJ. M
6 my goodness W
7 divine W
8 I'll be damned M
9 so W
10 good MW
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15. Table 1 Variables and Classifications
Variable Classification
11 TAG QUEST. MW/W
12 PLAIN ADJ. MW/W
13 shit M
14 great MW
15 very MW
16 darling W
17 oh dear W
18 COMMAND MW/M
19 NO TAG MW
20 just W
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16. Table 2—Modified Subject Data and Means
ELC Sex Totals Rel
Level M F
3 cell size
mean
4 cell size
mean
5 cell size
mean
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