Female Speech Style

Does it Change Over Time?

  • Kamisah Ariffin
  • Misyana Susanti Husin
  • Roselina Musahar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24191/gading.v8i02.54
Keywords: female speech styles, stereotyped characteristics, literary texts

Abstract

Numerous examinations of gender speech styles have been conducted primarily based on real life conversations which were unprepared and spontaneous (Coates 1986; Tannen 1991; Githens 1991), but little has been done in other frameworks. This study looks at gender speech styles in the perspective of its portrayal in literary texts. It focuses on the analysis of stereotyped characteristics of female speech style as portrayed in three children’s novels, written over a period of three centuries – 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries. The analysis is based on Lakoff’s characteristics of female speech style – the use of special vocabulary, imprecise intensifiers, super polite forms, weak forms of expletives, hedges, tag questions and direct quotations, as portrayed in the novels. Since most creative writings are created based on the writers’ observations on the reality of their surroundings, to a certain extent, they do rely on the stereotyped and generalized behaviour to make their written products believable, real and acceptable to the audience. Thus, this study also examines whether the female style of speaking changes over time, based on the writers’ observations and perceptions.

Published
2017-06-22
How to Cite
Ariffin, K., Husin, M. S., & Musahar, R. (2017). Female Speech Style. Gading Journal for the Social Sciences (e-ISSN 2600-7568), 8(02), 47-61. https://doi.org/10.24191/gading.v8i02.54
Issue
Vol 8 No 02 (2004): Gading Business Management Journal DECEMBER 2004
Section
Article/Paper

Copyright (c) 2004 Kamisah Ariffin, Misyana Susanti Husin, Roselina Musahar

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