For example, 'What school do you attend?' 'Lafayette College?' Question intonation in declarative statements: women make declarative statements questions by raising the pitch of their voice at the end of a statements, expressing uncertainty. Special lexicon: women use more words for things like colors, men for sports, etc.ġ0. Direct quotation: men paraphrase more often.ĩ. Sense of humor lacking: women do not tell jokes well and often don't understand the punchline of jokes.Ĩ. Hypercorrect grammar and pronunciation: English class grammar and clear enunciation.ħ. Empty adjectives: divine, lovely, adorable, etc.Ħ. Speaking in italics: intonational emphasis equal to underlining words - so, very, quite.ĥ. Tag questions: 'You're going to dinner, aren't you?'Ĥ. (Super)polite forms: 'Would you mind.,' 'I'd appreciate it if.,' '.if you don't mind.'ģ. Hedges: phrases like 'sort of,' 'kind of,' 'It seems like,' etc.Ģ. Much of what Lakoff proposed agreed with Jespersen's theories:ġ. In her 1975 article she published 10 basic assumptions about what she felt constituted a special women's language.

Her book Language and Woman's Place (1975) and her article entitled 'Woman's Language' have served as the basis for much research on the subject. Robin Lakoff was one of the first women to publish theories on the existence of women's language.

Gender Styles in Computer Meditated Communication SECTION TWOĮstablished Theories on Gender Styles in CommunicationĪn excerpt from 'Men and Women in Conversation: An Analysis of Gender Styles in Language'

Man Made Language by Dale Spender