May21 - Stanford University

5/26/09

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KyuwonMoonRebeccaGreene

Ling156A:LanguageandGender

 Questionsfromlastweek?  SlidesupuntilMay19thhavenowbeenpostedonline  LinktolearningtheIPAisnowonthediscussionsite

 Questionsabouttoday’sreadings?  ReadingsforTuesday:notthechapter,butavailablefordownloadonthecoursewebsite:1.  howfalsettoisconnectedtogaymalespeech2.  howweperceiveconsonantsbasedonspeakergender

  Prompt8nowpostedLing156A:LanguageandGender

  Concepts  Casestudies

  1.EasternKentuckyEnglish  2.Japanesewomen’slanguage


 WhatisthestudyofSociolinguisticVariation?o  Thestudyofthewaylanguagevariesandchangesincommunitiesofspeakers

o  Concentratesinparticularontheinteractionofsocialfactorsandlinguisticstructures

  Variables  “Morethanonewayofsayingthesamething”(E&M:269)


 MorphosyntacticVariationo  Idon’tneedyouanymore./Idon’tneedyounomore.

  PhoneticVariationo  (IN/ING):playing/playin’

 Whatdoesavariabletellus?  e.g.,saying[biәg] for ‘bag’   e.g.,sayingdeclarativesentenceswithUptalkintonation

  e.g.,usingalong,aspirated/t/‐release

  Socialmeaningandidentity


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  Linguisticmarket(Bourdieu1977,1991)  Wherelinguisticcompetence(includingcommunicativecompetence)functionsascapital

  Languagesarealwaysspokeninparticularmarketsandthecharacteristicsofthesemarketsassignthemcertainvalues

  Linguisticmarketandlanguagevarieties  Themarketvalueofanutterancedependsonthelanguagevarietyinwhichitisframed


  Standardlanguage  Globalmarket  Thelanguageofsocietalpower  Facilitatesaccesstoglobalresources

  Vernacularspeech  Localmarket  Facilitatesaccesstolocalresources


  RebeccaGreene,“EasternKentuckyEnglish”


  Global:  Morevalue:

  StandardAmericanEnglish  Educated,middle/upperclass,white,Northern/Midwestern,suburban

  Getsyousuccessinjobs,school  Why?‘STANDARDLANGUAGEIDEOLOGY’

  Certainothercountries’Englishaccents  England,France

  Lessvalue:  Regionaldialects

  California  >‘Fargo’  >NY/Boston  >South

  Supra‐regional  African‐AmericanVernacular

English  Youngfemale/Valleygirl  Gaymale  Non‐native(Asian,Hispanic,

Mideastern,African,EasternEuropean)

  De‐valuedhow?  ‘Stupid’  ‘Uneducated’  ‘Unsophisticated’  ‘Unintelligible’  ‘Incorrect’  ‘Sloppy/lazy’

  De‐valuedwhy?

  Neutral‐ish???  AustralianEnglish  IrishEnglish  ScottishEnglish  ScandinavianEnglish

 Why?

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  ElliottCounty,Kentucky  Population(2008):7280,downfrom10,387in1900

  Countyseat:SandyHook,pop.678(2000)  Averagehouseholdincome $25,129

  Kentuckyaverage $40,267

  Residentsbelowpovertyline 25.9%  Kentuckyaverage 15.8%

(2007)

  Notindustrialized,norailwaysormajorroads  Economybasedonothersmallfarming(mostlycattle),manuallaborinsurroundingregions

 Only845jobs(2003)  LongestcommuteofanycountyintheUnitedStates,at48.7minutes(2000)

  Awarenessthatwearelookeddownonbyothers,includingresidentsofsurroundingcounties

  Senseofbleakness,“nojobshere” Mostmenworkfaraway  Farmingbecomingnotprofitable  Diredrugproblem

 Andastronglystigmatizedlocalaccent!

“Theylookdownonyou...Theywerelike,‘YouhavethethickestaccentIeverheard.’Iwaslike,‘Leavemealone!’‘Causethey’llpickonyou,‘causetheythinkyou’relike,ahillbilly,likeyouhavenoteeth,andyougobarefootedeverywhereyougo.AndIwaslike,‘Igotshoeson!’”

Well,thelasttimethatsomeonewasguessingwhereIwasfrom,wewereontheplaneandIwasco‐,wewere,wegotintoaconversation,andtheysaid,“Whereareyoufrom?”IthinktheyweregoingtoPennsylvania,I’mnotsure,I’mnotsurewheretheywere,IthinktheywerefromtheNortheastsomewhere.Isaid,“I’mfromKentucky,”andhesaid,“Kintucky?!”Isaid,“well,yes,Kentucky,”butImusthavesaid“Kintucky,”becausehe,helaughed,hesaid,“Kintucky.”Uh,well,andthenwewerecomingbackfromwewereinNewYorkattheairportcomingbackfromoverseasonetimeandthisguywasinfrontandIsaid,“Ithoughttheysaidforustogetinline,”andhislittlewifegotallexcitedandhesaid,“Oh,don’tlistentoher,she’sfromGeorgiaorsomewhere.”

  “I’vehadbottlesofpopthrewatme,I’vehadpeoplemakefunofmyaccent...I’vegottenalot,youknow,just‘Saysomethingagain,hillbillygirl’.”

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  Residentsoftenexpress‘oppositionalidentity’,regardingtherestoftheworld,whichisregardedasmoreliketheNorthandthe‘bigcity’

“ItdoesirkmewhenIgotoGrayson,andyouwritethemacheck,andthey’relike,‘SandyHook,’where’sthat?’Andyou’relike,‘Well,youknowwhat?Justgiveitback.’Um,thatreallybothersme.”[Theydon’tknowwhereSandyHookis?!]“Sometimestheydon’t.Ortheydon’twanttoactliketheydo.Andthatreallyirritatesme,because...soIalwaystrytobuyasmuchasIcaninthecounty.”

  All30womenIinterviewedexpressedinterestinmaintainingtheiraccent,despitefrequentlybeingmadefunofforituponleaving

  2155unreducedtokens,withatleast38tokensfromeachspeaker

  ExcludedI,my  Analyzedperceptually,categoricallyasmonophthongordiphthong

  [a:]for/ay/isoneofmostsalientfeaturesdistinguishingWhiteSouthernfromNorthernspeech(Bernstein2006)

  Despitespeakers’awarenessofstigma,anddespitevaryingdegreesofstandardgrammar,theygenerallymonophthongize/ay/

 Only271/2155(13%)tokensdiphthongal  16of30intervieweesusedmonophthongal/ay/exclusively

 Only5ofthesixteendiphthongusersexhibitedthediphthongalvariantwithanyregularity(morethan10%oftheirtokens)

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  CurrentlylivinginurbanLexington  Fatherissuperintendentofschools  Motheriselementaryschoolteacher  Worksinabookstore  WantstojointheAirForce,traveltheworld,becomeadentist

  Enjoysliterature,photography,sushi  BUT...wantstospeakwithaccent,anduses57/57[a:]

 Whatyouhearwhenyou’regrowingup,that’s,whatyou,that’s,youlearntopronounce[a:]insteadof[ay],andI’vealwayssaid[a:].

  I’vealwaysspokenthesameway.I’venevertriedtoemphasizemyaccentorsuppressitbecauseIdon’tthinkthere’sanythingwrongwithit.

[So,ifyouweregoingtobeon,like,youknow,TV,WSAZcameandtheyputthatmicrophoneinyourface,doyouthinkyou’dtrytotalkdifferently,oryou’djustbeyourself?]

I’vealreadyhadtodothatnumeroustimesbecauseofmyjob.Ijusttalktheway,Imean,Ithinkthatyou’regoingtobemakingitmoreobvious,ifyoutrynottotalkthewaythatyoutalk,andyouknow,andtome,thatmakes,makesyou,tomeithitsyouortootherpeoplethatyou’reashamedofwhereyou’refromandhowyoutalk.I’mnotashamedofwhereI’mfromandhowItalk.AndI’mnotgoingtochangeit,youknow...

[Don’tmatterifit’sLarryKing,oranybody,whoeveristalkingtoyou?]

Right.It’snotgoingtomatter.Atall.Youknow,otherpeoplemightfeeldifferently.Myview,I’mnotchanging.IamwhoIam.YoulikemeforwhoIam.NotforwhoyouwantmetobeorwhoIthinkIoughttobe.Thisisthepackage.

[Whatwouldhappenifyoucamebackhereandyoustartedsaying[ay]andstufflikethat?]

They’dprobablythinkyouwerecrazy.

Myroommate’sfromLouisville,andshethinksshe’slike,onahigherlevel‘causeshecansay,like,right[rait],andI’mlike,[ra:t]...andshemakesfunofthewayyousayice...’causeit’slike,she’slike,‘You’renotsayingit,’andI’mlike,‘YesIam!’...SomeguyatArby’s,they’relike,‘Yeah,yousaythatonemoretime,I’macomeoverthatcounterandpunchyou’,Iwaslike‘Ididn’tsayit!’

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  Howdoyouthinka‘standard’speakermightactuallybeperceivedhere?

  HowaboutapersonfromadifferentpartoftheSouth?

  The‘currency’or‘value’isdifferent

  IsitINVERTED?

  OrjustDIFFERENT?

  DoyouthinkwomeninE.C.speakmore‘standardly’thanmen?

  Inplaceswherewomenarefoundtousemore‘standard’language,whymighttheydoso?  Jobs?Here,womendodolessmanuallabor...  Orsymbolicvalue/capital?Hmm...

 Or,shouldwebeasking,whyaremenusingmorenonstandardlanguage?

  Arethere‘masculine’and‘feminine’linguisticmarkets?

  ‘Heterosexual’and‘homosexual’linguisticmarkets?

  Japanesewomen’slanguage


SeeEckert&McConnell‐Ginet

pp.278‐281

 Weperceive“women’slanguage”asafact  Thereisacertaintypeandformofspeechthatwomenproduce

 Women’slanguageisassumedtohavecertaintraits  “Womenspeakmorepolitelythanmen”  “Women’sspeechisoftenillogical”


  Criticalpartofcultural/linguisticknowledge  “IsoundlikewhatinJapanese?”(http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0917/p19s01‐hfes.html?page=2)


“ButIwasdisappointedtolearnthatforthepast2‐1/2years,IhadnotbeenspeakinggoodJapanese.Suddenly,shefiredoffalistofthemistakesIhadapparentlymadeumpteentimes.ShesaidherfriendshadoftensnickeredwhenIreferredtomyselfinthethirdperson,asmanyJapanesewomenandgirlsdo,andwhentheyheardmeendsentenceswiththeparticle"wa,"whichisusuallyusedbywomentosoftenthetoneofasentence.Mostofall,shesaid,IneededtotakethepitchofmyvoicedownseveralnotchesfromthetoneIhadlearned.”

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 WhatisJapanesewomen’slanguage?  Particle“‐wa”  Highpitch  Useofcertainlexicalitems

  Symboliccapital(Bourdieu1977)


  AssumptionsonJapanesewomen’slanguage  Women’slanguageisuniquelyJapanese“Japanesewomanhoodisnowbeingrecognizedasbeautifulandexcellentbeyondcomparewiththeotherwomanhoodsoftheworld.Likewise,Japanesewomen'slanguageissofinethatitseemstomethatitis,alongwithJapanesewomanhood,uniqueintheworld"(Kindaichi1942:293).

  Women’slanguagehasunbrokenhistoricalrootsinthepast“WecannothopeforcontemporaryJapanesewomentobeaswittyandtactfulaswerethoseinthepast,but,atleast,Iwouldlikethemtohaveasincereandhumbleattitudeandtopreservetheculturalheritagepasseddownfromtheancestorswithoutdestroyingit”(Mashimo1969:81)


  Howandwhydidsomespeechformsandfunctionscometobeidentifiedaswomen'slanguage?

  Howdidsuchanindexicalpractice—alinkageofspeechwithsocialstructureandculturalmeaning—cometobepossibletobeginwith?


 Mythofwomen’slanguageasdescendedfromancientorigin  ScholarsofNationalLanguageStudies(kokugogaku)oftendatetheoriginofwomen'slanguageasearlyasthefourthcentury

  IdeandTerada(1998)  Theseformsofspeechwerepartofwomen’s“occupationallanguage,”not“genderlanguage”

  Geishasandprostitutes


  Inoue(2002)  Manyofthesefeaturesdidnotexistuntilthelate19thcentury!

  E.g.particle“‐wa”,whichisconsideredtobefeminineincontemporaryJapanese,wasconsideredtobevulgarinthepast

Ling156A:LanguageandGender Ling156A:LanguageandGender

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  ComparisonofUkiyoburo(1813)andSanshiro(1909)  1)particlesaregenderedin1909,butnotin1813

  ‐>Something’sgoingonhere…  2)1909novelisverysimilartocontemporaryJapaneseintermsofitsgenderedparticlesystem  ‐>Sosomethingdidhappenbetween1813and1909…

  3)someofthefemale‐onlyparticlesin1909werenotusedbysamurai‐classfemalesin1813  ‐>meaningtheywereconsideredtobevulgar  ‐>classdistinction


 Whathappenedbetween1813and1909?

  Didthingsjuststarttochangeabruptly?

 Meta‐linguistic“whispering”(Inoue2002)  Sanshiro(1909)isnotarepresentationofwomen’slanguagein1909;itwhisperstowomenbybeinganexampleofhowwomenoughttospeak

  Reportedspeech,quotedspeech  Elevationof“vulgar”schoolgirls’speechtothegenericwomen’slanguage


 Whywasitnecessarytoconstructwomen’slanguage?

 Modernizingandnationalizingwomen  MeijiRestorationperiod(1868~1912)  “Goodwifeandwisemother(ryosaikenbo)”  Modernandnationalideology

 Writingreformation  “Writeasyouspeak(gembun’itchi)”movement  Manydifferentfinalparticlesweretriedout


 One’ssocialidentity,orpersona,islinkedtotheiraccessto“appropriate”languageforms

 Women’slanguageisneitheressentialnornatural;itisshapedbylargersocialprocessesoftherealworld

  Theideaofwomen’slanguageiscirculatedbymeta‐discourse:media,reportedspeech,oreverydayevaluation(peopletalkingaboutlanguage)

 One’spositioning,whichishighlyconditionedbygender,allowsher/himtohavedifferentaccesstolinguisticresources


References(downloadthemfromthecoursesiteifyou’reinterested!)

  Ide,RisakoandTerada,Tomomi.1998.ThehistoricaloriginsofJapanesewomen’sspeech:fromthesecludedworldsof“courtladies”and“playladies”.InternationalJournaloftheSociologyofLanguage.129:139‐156.

  Inoue,Miyako.2002.Gender,languageandmodernity:Towardaneffectivehistoryof‘Japanesewomen’slanguage’.AmericanEthnologist29(2):392–422.

  Inoue,Miyako.2004.Whatdoeslanguageremember?IndexicalinversionandthenaturalizedhistoryofJapanesewomen.JournalofLinguisticAnthropology14(1):39–56.


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