JAL355H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Great Vowel Shift, Diphthong, Romance Languages
Document Summary
[l]abelling someone a man or a woman is a social decision. We may use scientific knowledge to help us make the decision, but only our. Beliefs about gender not science can define our sex: there is no single biological definition of sex, anatomical, chromosomal, endocrinal. Examples: irish sign language (french sign language family): Historically categorically different vocabularies due to gender- segregated deaf education policy in ireland: french (romance language): One of many languages that marks the gender of the speaker je suis peitit vs. je suis petite. Gender-preferential differences: the vast majority of gender differences in language are not categorical, matters of degree; more or less rather than either or. In many languages, pronouns, concord, and agreement exclusively and directly index gender. More non- standard [- n] as you go down socioeconomic hierarchy. The[se] affective dispositions are part of the preferred images of men and women and motivate their differential use by men and women.
