Language and Gender Study Guide

Linguistic terms, theories, and key studies regarding language and gender diversity.

Address terms

The distinction where men are usually only referred to as 'Mr' while women are categorized as 'Mrs', 'Miss', or 'Ms', showing the impact of marriage on female identity.

Diminutive suffixes

Adding 'ess' or 'ette' to the end of words to make them 'feminine' and therefore perceived as smaller or weaker.

Generic terms

The use of 'Man' to refer to all people or the entire human race.

Lexical asymmetry

Pairs of words that ought to be equal but are not because the female version has acquired negative connotations.

Marked terms

Language that denotes gender because of societal assumptions, such as 'female doctor' or 'male nurse', when there is no specific suffix to denote masculinity or femininity.

Hedges

Terms including modal expressions and vague language (non-absolute language) used to make points seem less certain.

Empty adjectives

Adjectives that add little meaningful content, such as 'divine', 'lovely', or 'adorable'.

Tag questions

A question added to the end of a statement that does not change the statement, such as 'isn’t it?'

Coarse language

A subset of language considered impolite, rude, or offensive.

Hyper-correct grammar

Non-standard use of grammar resulting from the over-application of a perceived rule, involving prestige grammar and clear enunciation.

Super-polite forms

Phrases added in an attempt to display good manners, such as 'Would you mind…' or 'I'd appreciate it if…'

Let Toys be Toys (2017)

A study of catalogues showing that boys were 4x more likely to be shown with cars, while girls were 12x more likely to be shown with baby dolls.

Blatt (2017) and Hunt (2017)

Researchers who found that in fiction, verbs used for male speech included 'ordered' and 'shouted', while female speech was described as 'begged', 'murmured', and 'wept'.

Deficit model

A linguistic model suggesting that women’s language use contributes to their lower status and weaker position in society.

Dominance model

A model suggesting that men’s use of language 'dominates' the weaker female sex in mixed-gender interactions.

Difference model

A model suggesting that men and women simply have different conversational styles, and neither gender is necessarily more dominant.

Robin Lakoff (1975)

Author of 'Language and Woman’s Place' who argued that gender inequality is linked to specific female language traits like hedging, tag questions, and avoidence of expletives.

O’Barr and Atkins (1980)

Researchers who studied courtroom footage and concluded that 'powerless language' was linked to social standing and perceived power rather than gender.

Zimmerman and West (1975)

Theorists who found a 46 to 2 ratio of male-to-female interruptions in mixed-gender conversations, concluding that men seek linguistic dominance.

Pamela Fishman

Linguist who theorized that women do 'interactional shitwork' by using questions to maintain conversation and encourage male speakers.

Geoffrey Beattie (1982)

A researcher who challenged Zimmerman and West, finding that men and women interrupted with nearly equal frequency (34.1 vs 33.8).

Deborah Tannen

Author of 'You Just Don’t Understand' who summarized male and female speech contrasts such as Status vs. Support and Orders vs. Proposals.

Modal Tags

As defined by Janet Holmes, tag questions that are requests for information and may show uncertainty.

Affective Tags

As defined by Janet Holmes, addressee-oriented tag questions that express intimacy, solidarity, or concern.

Vocal Fry

Also known as 'pulse register' or 'glottal fry', it is a low, rough, creaking sound caused by vibrating vocal cords at the back of the throat.

Uptalk

The habit of ending declarative sentences with a rising pitch, making them sound like questions.