On Language Variety and the Causes of Formation Between Males and Females男女語言差異

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1、On Language Variety and the Causes of Formation Between Males and Females 摘要：本文通過大量實(shí)例列舉了男女兩性在語音、語調(diào)、詞匯、語法及稱謂等諸方面所在的語言變異和多樣性，分別從社會(huì)、心理和語言學(xué)的角度分析了造成這些現(xiàn)象的原因。 關(guān)鍵詞： 兩性 語言變異 成因 社會(huì)語言學(xué) Abstract: This paper sets out some language varieties between males and females in terms of phonetics, intonation, gram

2、mar and etc, through a lot of examples. And meanwhile, it analyzes the causes of formation from the angles of society, psychology and linguistics. Key words: men and women, language variety, cause of formation, sociolinguistics As we know, a variety of language is “a set of linguistic items with

3、 similar social distribution”. And the definition of it must be based on the using frequency of some linguistic items. From the view of social distribution a language variety can be divided into two types-------One, the social distribution is mainly related to the speaker’s social traits including n

4、ative language variety, diglot variety, regional dialect variety, old men’s language variety and women language variety and so on. The other, the social distribution in chiefly connected with the use of the speaker’s language such as oral form variety, written form variety, formal style variety and

5、informal style variety and etc. Here I’ll take the language variety between men and women as my topic. The language variety between the both sexes is a phenomenon, which exists in almost each language more or less. Because males and females possess different social psychology or the whole society h

6、as the same psychology in terms of what words and deeds they should have. Sometimes speakers with different sexes may consciously be aware of this psychological principle, and they take acre not to break it in words and behaviors. Sometimes the speakers realize it unconsciously, but the formed custo

7、ms or habits due to the social psychology mentioned cause them to be up to standard of their positions. In almost every society there is an invisible principle-------what a man should do and what a woman should do. And sometimes the principle is even written in the dictionary or grammar book in deta

8、il, which is all manifestations of the above social psychology. In the society the same native language of dialect used, it is common occurrence to produce variants in language because of different sex. On one hand, different sex speakers show their variety when they use the common native language

9、 variety or the same dialect variety. This kind of variety relates to the social psychology. On the other hand, in a specified language variety, when a corresponding language item is used to show a man or a waman, it means not only the different sex on psychology but it also adds some especial meani

10、ngs. This type of variety usually shows discrimination upon women to various degrees, which is a universal social psychological state in the human class society. When men or women use the same language variety, they have variants, which embody mainly in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and so on

11、. Variation in pronunciation between men and women is the commonest type on the sex differences in language. For example, young women in Beijing articulate the initials “j, q, x” more towards the front of the mouth, thereby transforming these initials into “z, c and s” or sound approximating these.

12、 This feminine articulation is intended to convey a sense of “feminine beauty”, and it forms what has been called “a feminine linguistic world”. In British English, another example is provided by women, who usually pronounce a word with consonant clusters like “simple” as???. They add a glottal stop

13、 between the consonants. In some languages, the language variety between males and females appears in vocabulary and grammar. For instance, just men use some interjections in English, and only women speak some. Men often say “damn”, while women use the following words or phrases such as “goodness”,

14、 “shit”, “Oh, dear” and so on. And some words can only be used for female, such as “sweet”, for example, “ lovely”, “charming”, “ecru”, and “beige” and etc. In China, men and women sometimes express the same idea, but they say it in different words. Take “going to the lavatory” as and example, young

15、 Beijing women used to refer to it as “shang yihao” (going to room number one”, while young men say “dunking” (squatting on the pit) instead. In grammar, someone thinks it’s female that often uses a special hesitant tone in conversations. For example, when somebody asks a woman “When will dinner b

16、e ready”, the woman probably answer in this way “Oh…around seven o’clock!” This reply is a simple statement in which some words are omitted. It should be said in a falling tone in accordance with English grammatical rules. But in fact, some sentences like this are often said by women in a rising ton

17、e as they are used in the form of general questions. Generally speaking, the expressing forms taken by women are more polite and refined. And woman English speakers use more tag questions than men do. For instance, they do not directly say “Tom is here, isn’t he?” instead. When some corresponding w

18、ords are used to indicate “man” and “ woman”, the term “women” especially “l(fā)ady” indicated has a derogatory sense…trifling or unimportant and so on. “Man and women”, “gentlemen and lady” seem to be only different from each the language variety used by those who are well educated and have other in se

19、x on the surface, but we can see the term “l(fā)ady” in English contains a derogatory sense if you make a further analyses, for terms “l(fā)ady” and “women” cannot often be used interchangeably, but “gentleman” and “man” can. And “gentleman” has no derogatory sense. For example, we may say “That man is a de

20、an at Qinghua”, or “That gentleman is a dean at Qinghua”. And we may say “That woman is a dean at Qinghua”; while we cannot say “That lady is a dean at Qinghua”. Another example in the form of compound words, we may say “saleslady” and “cleaning-lady”, but never say “sales gentleman” or “cleaning ge

21、ntleman”. In English, we use “woman engineer” and etc. But when we talk about a male doctor or engineer, we never add “man” before any of them. Instead we directly say “doctor” or “engineer”. Although it contains “man” with a neuter noun in the term “chairman”, it refers it either a male or female.

22、The words like this in English are many. Such language discrimination expression upon women is regarded as one form of sexism. So someone suggests that “man” in the word “chairman” should be changed as he neuter “person” so as to show the both sexes’ equality. In the process of a language being us

23、ed, the expression to woman discrimination also appears in the other aspects. For example, when people speak of a woman, they always place her in a position, which is subordinate to a man. The forms of address “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Look as if they are equal completely, in fact, they are different in mean

24、ing. The former directly refers to a man, but the latter indicates a woman from the specified relationship with a man. Another example will be given later on. Why does the sex difference of men and woman cause the language variants? Apart from the mentioned reasons of “the social psychology and soc

25、ial custom” referred to earlier, there are more in the following. I think that the language varieties in sex are connected with taboo, especially we may explain the sexual variation in vocabulary with it, for some words perhaps are related with specific affairs or activities. If a social custom fo

26、rbids women to touch or talk about these words and not allow them to take part in such activities. Thus, the words used in such occasions cannot be used by females. One more reason forming the language variants between the both sexes are that men have a social psychology of seeking and chasing cov

27、ert. Under normal conditions, the standard variety in language is the highest variety of social prestige, for it is polished form in spoken language, and it’s mastered by means of normal education. And it is thought of as social status in society. While the non-standard variety in language is usuall

28、y related with those who have low culture and lower social position. But this non-standard variety may cause people to associate it with physical laborers’ strength, roughness and frankness and so on, which are associated as the expression of men prestige in the wes. So some cultured men or men of s

29、ocial status would rather five up the form of standard language and take the non-standard language form in order to get the “covert prestige” which is a sign of man. In some societies, on the whole, because women usually attach themselves to men in economy and they are not independent and equal wit

30、h men, they have to pay more attention to others’ views upon them. The society not only limits women’s activities, but also stipulates them what to do in the words and deeds. This demand to women is much harsher than to men. So women are forced to gain a god impression in appearance, clothing, words

31、, and deeds and son on. In the opposite, men don’t take care what the others may say on them in such aspects, for they are free in the society. What people notice them is their talents and achievements in work and career. So owing to the mentioned social psychology, there is a tendency with universa

32、lity in language. When a form of language goes near to a more honored form of language, women are usually more active; when language variation doesn’t go closely to the standard form, and even far away from the standard language, women are likely to be more conservative. So we have another reason to

33、 produce the language variation between males and females. In our society, the system of exploitation has been abolished and women’s social status has been improving. The old ideas of regarding men as superior to women are gradually disappearing. But many factors left over by history to hinder wom

34、en from getting free and being equal with men cannot be removed completely in a short time. Take schooling as an example, on the whole, women are lower educated than men and the number of women who are engaged in complicated mental labor is also less than that of men. And women’s words and behavior

35、are often formlessly limited by some standard habits. All of this may influence the views upon women from society and themselves, thus it causes men and women to use a language but in different ways. And it produces language variants when women or men use some corresponding language items. For examp

36、le, People in Beijing, 10 years ago, used to have different forms of address to strangers who have different profession or identity. They call a cadre or and intellectual “tongzhi”(comrade); a worker is addressed as “shifu”(master worker); a peasant may be called in different ways according to his a

37、ge. Being young or middle-aged, he is usually called “tongzhi”(comrade); if old and male, he is addressed as “l(fā)ao daye”(old uncle) or “l(fā)ao tongzhi”(old comrade) or even “tongzhi”(comrade). If the person is an old female peasant, she is called “l(fā)ao daniang”(old aunt) or “dama”(aunt). But if she is an

38、 old woman seeming to be an intellectual, she is never addressed as “l(fā)ao daaninang”(old aunt), but as “l(fā)ao tongzhi”(old comrade, comrade of master worker). The distinction of forms of address shows people’s different views upon male or female peasants. Namely, people regard a male peasant as one of

39、independent social status, so he may be called “old comrade”. But an old female peasant is looked upon as one who is subordinate to a man and has no social status. This is another example to show the reason forming language variant between the both sexes and as well to show the discrimination expres

40、sion upon women. To summarize, we may see, from the development of history of the human society, the more the difference of social status between men and women are, the more fixed the language varieties in sex. So people often take some obvious examples from the tribal society and feudal society wi

41、th lower productive forces. In a word, it is not easy and simple to make clear all the reasons causing the language varieties between males and females. And sometimes it is very complicated. Apart from the reasons mentioned above, there are, moreover, the reason of social distance and the reason o

42、f social intercourse barrier and so on. We must make a concrete analysis of concrete conditions of a linguistic society, which causes some specific items to produce some concrete variants. In general, this is a hard and difficult job to do. 英語諺語警句100句精選 Proverbs are the daughters of daily experien

43、ce.諺語是日常經(jīng)驗(yàn)的結(jié)晶。 1. Look before you leap./Second thoughts are best. 三思而后行。/再想而后行。 2. Great minds think alike; (heroes have similar views.) 英雄所見略同。 3. We shall never have friends if we expect to find them without fault.欲求完美無缺的朋友必然成為孤家寡人。 4. What you sow, you must mow. 種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆。 5. A beggar can n

44、ever be bankrupt.天無絕人之路。 6.A friend in need is a friend indeed.患難見真情。 7. No news is good news. 沒有消息就是好消息。 8. No cross, no crown. 不經(jīng)歷風(fēng)雨,怎么見彩虹。 9. The more haste, the less speed. /Haste makes waste.欲速則不達(dá)。 10. Victory belongs to the most persevering. 堅(jiān)持就是勝利！ 11. A young idler, an old beggar. 少壯不努

45、力，老大徒傷悲。 12. Put one’s foot in one’s mouth. 說話不得體。 13. It is no use crying over spilt milk.覆水難收/悔恨已晚/木已成舟,回天乏力。 14. Content is better than riches. 知足常樂。 15. No gains without pains. 沒有辛苦就沒有收獲。 16. The more a man knows, the more he is inclined to be modest. 大智若愚。 17. All roads lead to Rome .條條大路

46、通羅馬。 18. A snow year, a rich year. 瑞雪兆豐年。 19. Never say die! 永不言??！ 20. The best mirror is a friend’s eye. 朋友的眼睛是最好的鏡子。 21. Faith will move mountain. 精誠所至，金石為開。 22. A life without a friend is a life without a sun. 人生沒有朋友，猶如生活沒有了太陽。 23. Great wits have short memories.貴人多忘事。 24. Do well and

47、have well. 善有善報(bào)。 25. A bad thing never dies. 壞事傳千年。 26. Four eyes see more than two. 人多識廣/集思廣益。 27. Diligence is the parent of success. 勤勞是成功的根本。 28. Water dropping day by day wears the hardest rock away.滴水穿石。 29. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. 抱最好的愿望，做最壞的打算。 30. While there is

48、 life, there is hope. /Debt is better than death. 留得青山在，不怕沒柴燒。/有生命就有希望。 31. Where there is a will, there is a way. 功夫不負(fù)有心人。/有志者事竟成。 32. Where there is great love, there are always miracles. 哪里有真愛存在，哪里就有奇跡。 33. Where there is smoke, there is fire. 無風(fēng)不起浪。 34. One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy,

49、 three boys no boy.一個(gè)和尚挑水喝，兩個(gè)和尚抬水喝，三個(gè)和尚沒水喝。 35. A stitch in time saves nine. 及時(shí)縫一針能省九針。/小洞不補(bǔ)，大洞吃苦。 36. Never too old to learn, never too late to turn. 亡羊補(bǔ)牢，為時(shí)不晚。 37. Don’t claim to know what you don’t know. 不要不懂裝懂。 38. Do in Rome as Roman do. 入鄉(xiāng)隨俗。 39. Rome was not built in a day. 冰凍三尺，非一日之寒。

50、40. Sharpening your axe will not delay your job of cutting wood. 磨刀不誤砍柴工。 41. Things of a kind come together, people a mind fall into a group. 物以類聚,人以群分。 42. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. 蘿卜白菜,各有所愛。 43. like author like book.文如其人。 46. Like for like. 惺惺相惜。 47. Like teacher like pupil

51、. 有其師必有其徒。 48. Gods that run many hares kill none.貪多必失。 49. Practice makes perfect. 熟能生巧。 50. Actions speak louder than words. 行勝于言。 51. You cannot eat your cake and have it. 魚與熊掌，不可兼得。 52. One loses by pride and gains by modesty. 滿招損,謙受益。 53. Love me, love my dog. 愛屋及烏。 54. An apple a day ke

52、eps the doctor away. 每日一蘋果遠(yuǎn)離醫(yī)生。 55. Time past cannot be called back again. 時(shí)光不倒流。 56. A drop of water cannot make a sea, and a tree cannot make a wood. 滴水不成海，獨(dú)木不成林。 57. If you venture nothing, you will have nothing. 不入虎穴,焉得虎子。 58.The tree is known by its fruit. 觀其行知其人。 59. All work no play make

53、s Jack a dull boy. 只會(huì)用功不玩耍,聰明的孩子也變傻。 60. The pot calls the kettle black. 五十步笑百步。 61. Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person. 惡有惡報(bào)。 62. Today’s work should never be left over till tomorrow. 今日事今日畢。 63. Nothing so bad but might have been worse. 塞翁失馬,焉知非福。

54、 64. God helps those who help themselves. 自助者天助。 65. Complacency is the enemy of study. 學(xué)習(xí)的敵人是自己的滿足。 66. A fox may grow gray, but never good.江山易改，本性難移。 67. A friend without faults will never be found. 沒有十全十美的朋友。 68. A good beginning is half done. 良好的開端是成功的一半。 6

55、9. A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever. 一本好書，相伴一生。 70. A good medicine tastes bitter. 良藥苦口。 71. A leopard cannot change its spots.積習(xí)難改。 72. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. 一知半解，自欺欺人。 73. All good things come to an end. 天下沒有不散的筵席。 74. Justice has long arms. 天網(wǎng)

56、恢恢，疏而不漏。 75．A man becomes learned by asking questions. 不恥下問才能有學(xué)問。 76. A man can do no more than he can. 凡事都應(yīng)量力而行。 77. A man cannot spin and reel at the same time. 一心不能二用。 78. Diamond cuts diamond. 強(qiáng)中自有強(qiáng)中手。 79. Doing is better than saying. 與其掛在嘴上，不如落實(shí)在行動(dòng)上。 80. Do it now. 機(jī)不可失，時(shí)不再來。 81. It is t

57、he unforeseen that always happens. 天有不測風(fēng)云，人有旦夕禍福。 82. Don't put off till tomorrow what should be done today.今日事，今日畢。 83. Do well and have well. 善有善報(bào)。 84. Easy come, easy go. 來也匆匆，去也匆匆。 85. Every advantage has its disadvantage.有利必有弊。 86. Every day is not Sunday. 好景不常在。 87. Every man has his fau

58、lts. 金無足赤，人無完人。 88. Every man has his weak side. 人人都有弱點(diǎn)。 89. Every potter praises hit pot. 王婆賣瓜，自賣自夸。 90. Experience must be bought. 吃一塹，長一智。 91. Far from eye, far from heart. 眼不見，心不煩。 92. First come, first served. 先來后到。 93. Judge not from appearances.人不可貌相，海不可斗量。 94. Gold will not buy anythi

59、ng.黃金并非萬能。 95. He laughs best who laughs last.誰笑到最后，誰笑得最好。 96. He who makes no mistakes makes nothing. 想不犯錯(cuò)誤，就一事無成。 97. Learn not and know not. 不學(xué)無術(shù)。 98. It is never too old to learn. 活到老，學(xué)到老。 99. It takes three generations to make a gentleman.十年樹木，百年樹人。 100. It is the first step that costs troublesome. 萬事開頭難。