Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction: notions of language
- Part I Micro-choices
- 2 Standard and dialect: social stratification as a factor of linguistic choice
- 3 Gendered speech: sex as a factor of linguistic choice
- 4 Communicating across generations: age as a factor of linguistic choice
- 5 Choice and change
- 6 Politeness: cultural dimensions of linguistic choice
- Part II Macro-choices
- Glossary of terms
- References
- Internet resources
- Index
- References
3 - Gendered speech: sex as a factor of linguistic choice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction: notions of language
- Part I Micro-choices
- 2 Standard and dialect: social stratification as a factor of linguistic choice
- 3 Gendered speech: sex as a factor of linguistic choice
- 4 Communicating across generations: age as a factor of linguistic choice
- 5 Choice and change
- 6 Politeness: cultural dimensions of linguistic choice
- Part II Macro-choices
- Glossary of terms
- References
- Internet resources
- Index
- References
Summary
In the eighteenth century, when logic and science were the fashion, women tried to talk like the men. The twentieth century has reversed the process.
Aldous Huxley, Two or Three Graces(In)equality, difference, domination
Women and men choose their words differently. Why? An obvious answer is because they are different. What is more common sense than that the sexes are dissimilar, distinct and contrasting?! It's nature, a fundamental of the settled terms of existence. Intersexuality is an anomaly in any society. The overwhelming majority of all people know what sex they are (and want to be). That women and men speak differently is only natural. Just look at our speech apparatus. Men's vocal tracts are longer, their larynx is bigger and, accordingly, their voices are deeper because their vocal cords vibrate at a lower frequency than women's. Between 80 and 200 cycles per second (hertz) is the average range of male voices, while female voices range between 120 and 400 hertz. Frequencies are determined by physical conditions, the shape and length of the vocal tract. Does the resulting difference in the perceived pitch of female and male voices have anything to do with the fact that men and women talk differently? Isn't it just a natural given? It certainly is. However, the vocal tract is like a trumpet. You cannot make it sound like a double bass or a piano, but there are still many different ways of playing it.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- SociolinguisticsThe Study of Speakers' Choices, pp. 36 - 51Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005