Male and Female English: Adjective Use in Descriptions

------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Male and female English:
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adjective use in descriptions

Marie De Peuter Prof. A. Housen Canigia Mestdagh English Linguistics III 2012-2013

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Table of contents

0. Introduction

1. Theoretical background
1.1 Previous studies
1.2 Explaining language differences between the sexes
1.3 Gender differences in vocabulary use
1.4 Types of adjectives

2. Research
2.1 Data
2.2 Method
2.3 Results

3. Conclusion

4. References

5. Appendix

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0. Introduction
A few years ago, my father went to a wedding. When he came home my mother asked him what the bride, and more specifically her dress, looked like. “It was white.” he said. When telling this story my mother always gets annoyed at dad’s inability to provide a detailed description of the dress whereas my father feels he got the most important detail right. After all “It was white, wasn’t it?”. Even though they disagree on many subjects when talking about the language of the opposite sex, men and women tend to agree that they do not always understand each other. The frequent occurrence of clichés such as ‘women say no when they mean yes’ seems to support this, e.g. the cartoon in the following picture.

Consequently, a lot of studies have been conducted regarding the differences in language use between men and women. From Jespersen’s (1928) unfunded observations through Lakoff’s (1973) deficit approach, Spencer’s (1980) dominance approach to Tannen’s (1996) difference approach.
This paper will try to investigate how men and women use adjectives in descriptions. Intuitively, one could say that women will describe colours more precisely and pay more attention to details whilst men use more basic

References: Brouwer, D. (1991). ‘Feiten en verzinsels’ in T. Boves en M. Gerritsen (1995), Inleiding in de sociolinguïstiek. Tulp: Zwolle Crystal, D Ivy, D.K. & Backlund, P. (2008) Gender Speak: Personal Effectiveness in Gender Communications, 4th ed., pp. 142 – 210 Jespersen, O Gerritsen (1995). Inleiding in de sociolinguïstiek. Tulp: Zwolle Lakoff, R Sapiro, V. (2003) Women in American Society: An Introduction to Women’s Studies, 5th ed., pp. 324 – 353. Spenser, D. (1980). Man made language. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Tannen, D. (1992). You just don’t understand. Amsterdam: Prometheus. Tannen, D. (1996). Gender and Discourse. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Tannen, D. (2006). "Language and culture". In: Ralph W. Fasold and Jeff Connor-Linton. An Introduction to Language and Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Verbiest, A. (1991). Het gewicht van de directrice. Taal over, tegen en door vrouwen. Weiner, E. S. C. (1983). “The Oxford Guide to English Usage”. In: The Oxford Guide to the English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ganzewinkel, B. van (2003). Seksetaalverschillen in forumcommunicatie. Tilburg: Tilburg University Press. Retrieved from http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=6630 (26 April 2013). Lakoff, R. (1973). “Language and woman’s place”. In Language in Society. Vol. 2, No. 1 (Apr., 1973), pp. 45-80. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist156/Lakoff_1973.pdf (2 May 2013). Sheridan, F. (2007) Gender, Language, and the Workplace: An Exploratory Study. Women in Management Review, Vol. 22 (4), pp. 319 – 336. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.1108/09649420710754264 (2 May 2013). Verbiest, A. (1991). ‘Zijn taal, haar leven? Over vrouwen, taal en maatschappij’. Ons erfdeel, jaargang 34. Retrieved from http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_ons003199101_01/_ons003199101_01_0061.php (1 May 2013).