Gender Differences in the Use of Adjectives and Intensifiers

University of Debrecen Gender Differences in the Use of Adjectives and Intensifiers Sà ¡nta Dià ¡na Supervisor: Koczogh Helga Vanda 2012 | 1. Introduction The investigation of male and female speech differences is a major topic in sociolinguistics. The literature on this issue is vast; it has been one of the biggest within sociolinguistics in recent years. A number of linguists have investigated this field of study; among them Robin Lakoff (1975), Janet Holmes (2001), Deborah Tanen (1990), Jennifer Coates (1998), Susan U. Philips (1980)†¦show more content†¦As for the empty adjectives the overall data showed that female bloggers used them more (n=239) than male bloggers (n=92) (Amir et. al., 2012). Tagliamonte and Roberts (2005) investigated adjectives, as the most frequently intensified forms of language. The corpus they used was comprised of transcripts of the American sitcom Friends. Overall 900 intensifiable adjectives have been found out of which 22% was intensified. According to the study three intensifiers were dominant in Friends very (14,2%), really (24,6%) and so (44,1%). It has been observed that women generally ten d to use more intensification. Female characters used so and really more frequently than male characters. This could be explained by the fact that women use more â€Å"emotional language† was confirmed. This can also explain by the frequent use of these adjectives encoding emotions or physical attributes or other qualities e.g.: so jealous, so glad, really freaked, really important/small/great etc. (Roberts amp; Tagliamonte 2005). Intensifiers are widely used in compliments (Herbert, 1990) and apologies (Cohen and Olshtain 1981). Studies of compliments support the suggestion that women’s compliments tend to be expressed with linguistically stronger forms than men’s. Having analysed over one thousand American compliments, Hebert (1990) reported that only women used the stronger from and they usedShow MoreRelatedDiscussion of Significant Differences Between Mens and Womens Talking Manners2571 Words   |  11 PagesDiscussion of Significant Differences Between Mens and Womens Talking Manners Beginning with the role of compliments in female-male interaction by Janet Holmes in Reading B of Chapter 1 of your textbook Using English: from conversation to canon, discuss the significant differences between men’s and women’s talk – the way they interact, their choice of words and phrases and the topics they like to discuss. The linguist Halliday (1978) suggests that language has a dual Read MoreThe Idea Of Women And Men Use Language Differently1199 Words   |  5 PagesDiscuss the idea that Women and Men use Language differently. The data on Table 1 shows that the men in the meeting had more turns but there was an exception (woman D) and the men in the meeting generally spoke for longer per turn but again there was an exception (woman B). Additionally men also interrupted more (except for man E), and men were interrupted more except Man E and Man I, therefore there is no significant pattern in terms of which gender was interrupted more. Robin Lakoff found thatRead More Differences Between Male and Female Orientated Magazine Articles3124 Words   |  13 PagesInvestigating the Difference Between Male and Female Orientated Magazine Articles For my investigation I decided to take stories sent in by readers to the magazines FHM and Cosmopolitan. FHM is aimed at men aged around 16 to 30, while Cosmopolitan is aimed at women of the same age. I thought it would be interesting to look at the differences between the two formats because I read FHM quite a lot, and some female friends of mine read Cosmopolitan, and I have often wonderedRead MoreGender and Language3703 Words   |  15 Pages Lexical Analysis of Gender and Language Theories Muna Mohammed Abbas College of Engineering/ Babylon University 1. Introduction The major thing that distinguishes human beings from animals is basically our way to communicate with each other by using language. We have words for specific things, emotions, expressions and it appears as though we have words for everything when thinking about it. In each language; words are constructed in a certain way. When working with language, it is quiteRead MoreExpressing Teen Identity by Using Slang: Attitudes and Opinions Towards the Slang of Teenagers4156 Words   |  17 Pagespoints out, the manner in which we use our language has a great importance while â€Å"establishing social relationship and while conveying information about the speaker†. Ethnic background, gender, education, social class, age and many other aspects may influence the way we talk. And the way we talk may influence other people’s perception about us. Language in the society also differs in the formality levels. When talking about any specific kind of a language we use the term language variety. The varietyRead MoreStatement of Purpose23848 Words   |  96 PagesUniversity Writing Center  © 2011 Writing Guidelines for Statements of Purpose (Developed by the Writing Center, Ohio Wesleyan University, 2010-2011) A statement of purpose focuses on your academic interests and accomplishments, though you may use ―Iâ€â€" and include a personal anecdote or two, while a personal statement includes more autobiographical material and may be written as a personal narrative. A quality statement of purpose will distinguish you from the other 150 to 400 applicants competing