Robin Lakoff
Encyclopedia
Robin Tolmach Lakoff is a professor of linguistics
at the University of California, Berkeley
.
Lakoff's writings have become the basis for much research on the subject of women's language. In a 1973 article (later a 1975 book), she published ten basic assumptions about what she felt constituted a special women's language. Much of what Lakoff proposed agreed with theories originally proposed in the 1920s by Otto Jespersen
in Growth and Structure of the English Language (1905, revised and republished several times).
Lakoff's most famous work, Language and Woman's Place, introduced to the field of sociolinguistics
many ideas about women's language that are now often commonplace (although, similarly, many of her findings are now regarded as, at the very least, outdated). She proposed (Language and Woman's Place) that women's speech can be distinguished from that of men in a number of ways including:
Lakoff also developed the 'Politeness Principle', in which she devised three maxims that are usually followed in interaction. These are: Don't impose, give the receiver options and make the receiver feel good. She stated that these are paramount in good interaction. By not adhering to these maxims, a speaker is said to be 'flouting the maxims'.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Lakoff's writings have become the basis for much research on the subject of women's language. In a 1973 article (later a 1975 book), she published ten basic assumptions about what she felt constituted a special women's language. Much of what Lakoff proposed agreed with theories originally proposed in the 1920s by Otto Jespersen
Otto Jespersen
Jens Otto Harry Jespersen or Otto Jespersen was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language.He was born in Randers in northern Jutland and attended Copenhagen University, earning degrees in English, French, and Latin...
in Growth and Structure of the English Language (1905, revised and republished several times).
Lakoff's most famous work, Language and Woman's Place, introduced to the field of sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...
many ideas about women's language that are now often commonplace (although, similarly, many of her findings are now regarded as, at the very least, outdated). She proposed (Language and Woman's Place) that women's speech can be distinguished from that of men in a number of ways including:
- Hedges: Phrases like "sort of," "kind of," "it seems like"
- Empty adjectives: divine, adorable, gorgeous, etc.
- (Super-)Polite forms: "Would you mind…" "…if it’s not too much to ask" "Is it o.k if…?"
- Apologize more: "I'm sorry, but I think that…"
- Speak less frequently
- Avoid coarse language or expletives
- Tag questionTag questionA question tag or tag question is a grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment . For example, in the sentence "You're John, aren't you?", the statement "You're John" is turned into a question by the tag...
s: "You don't mind eating this, do you?". Subsequent research has cast some doubt on this proposition - Hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation: Use of prestige grammar and clear articulation
- Indirect requests: "Wow I'm so thirsty." – really asking for a drink
- Speak in italics: Use tone to emphasis certain words, e.g., "so", "very", "quite".
Lakoff also developed the 'Politeness Principle', in which she devised three maxims that are usually followed in interaction. These are: Don't impose, give the receiver options and make the receiver feel good. She stated that these are paramount in good interaction. By not adhering to these maxims, a speaker is said to be 'flouting the maxims'.
Selected writings by Lakoff
- 1973 The logic of politeness; or, minding your P's and Q's.
- 1975 Language and Woman's Place. ISBN 0195167570
- 1977 "What you can do with words: Politeness, pragmatics and performatives." In: Proceedings of the Texas Conference on Performatives, Presuppositions and Implicatures, ed. R. Rogers, R. Wall & J. Murphy, pp. 79–106. Arlington, Va.: Center for Applied Linguistics.
- 1985 When talk is not cheap. With Mandy AftelMandy AftelMandy Aftel is a leading natural perfumer and author of three books on natural perfume. Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume has been translated into seven languages, won the 2001 Sense of Smell Institute's Richard B...
. Warner ISBN 0446300705 - 1990 Talking Power. Basic Books. ISBN 0465083587
- 1993 Father knows best: the use and abuse of therapy in Freud's case of Dora. With J. Coyne. Teachers College Press. ISBN 0807762660
- 2000 The Language War. University of California Press. ISBN 0520222962
- 2006 "Identity à la carte: you are what you eat." In: Discourse and Identity, ed. Anna DeFina, Deborah Schiffrin and Michael Bamberg. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
External links
- Faculty home page (UC BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
) - Gender and tags.
- Language Log.