Language, Gender, and Sex in Comparative Perspective

Christine Tanz

ISBN 10: 0521338077 / ISBN 13: 9780521338073

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1987

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - Most studies of gender differences in language use have been undertaken from exclusively either a sociocultural or a biological perspective. By contrast, this innovative volume places the analysis of language and gender in the context of a biocultural framework, examining both cultural and biological sources of gender differences in language, as well as the interaction between them. The first two parts of the volume on cultural variation in gender-differentiated language use, comparing Western English-speaking societies with societies elsewhere in the world. The essays are distinguished by an emphasis on the syntax, rather than style or strategy, of gender-differentiated forms of discourse but also often carry out the same forms differently through different choices of language form. These gender differences are shown to be socially organized, although the essays in Part I also raise the possibility that some cross-cultural similarities in the ways males and females differentially use language may be related to sex-based differences in physical and emotional makeup. Part III examines the relationship between language and the brain and shows that although there are differences between the ways males and females process language in the brain, these do not yield any differences in linguistic competence or language use. Taken as a whole, the essays reveal a great diversity in the cultural construction of gender through language and explicity show that while there is some evidence of the influence of biologically based sex differences on the language of women and men, the influence of culture is far greater, and gender differences in language use are better accounted for in terms of culture than in terms of biology. The collection will appeal widely to anthropologists, psychologists, linguists, and other concerned with the understanding of gender roles.

Seller Inventory # 9780521338073

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Language, Gender, and Sex in Comparative Perspective
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521338077
• ISBN 13: 9780521338073
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 21D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 21 millimeters depth
• Weight: 572 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The aim of this innovative volume is to analyze both the cultural and the biological sources of gender differences in language use. The first two parts of the volume focus on cultural variation in gender-differentiated language use, comparing Western English-speaking societies with others from elsewhere in the world. Part III examines the relationship between language and the brain, showing that although there are differences in males' and females' processing of language in the brain, these do not yield any gender differences in language use. Overall, the volume points to the greater salience of cultural processes over biological processes in the shaping of gender.

Book Description

The significance of cultural processes in linguistic development is revealed through a cross-cultural comparison of cultural and biological sources of gender difference in language usage.