Investigating Gender-Related Use of Language in Maghnia Speech
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Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research Aboubekr Belkaid Universty-Tlemcen Faculty of Letters and Foreign Languages Department of Foreign Languages English Section Investigating Gender-related Use of Language in Maghnia Speech Community Dissertation submitted as a partial fulfillment in candidacy for the Degree of MAGISTER in Language Contact and Sociolinguistic Variation. Presented by Supervised by Mrs. Hanane RABAHI Dr. Ilhem MORTAD -SERIR Board of Examiners: Pr. S. BENMOUSSAT Pr. Chairperson (University of Tlemcen) Dr. I. SERIR MC. “A” Supervisor (University of Tlemcen) Pr. F. BEDJAOUI Pr. External Examiner (University of Sidi Bel Abbes) Dr. A. BELMEKKI MC. “A” Internal Examiner (University of Tlemcen) Dr. F. SENOUCI MC. “A” Internal Examiner (University of Tlemcen) Dr. R. BENYELLES MC. “A” Invited (University of Tlemcen) Academic Year 2012-2013 Dedication To my dear and loving daughter “Hidayet” I dedicate this work I Acknowledgements First of all, I am thoroughly indebted to my supervisor Pr. Ilhem MORTAD SERIR, who gave me freedom to work independently and to follow my ideas, yet providing support and help whenever needed. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my teachers during my first year of Magister, Dr. Z. DENDANE, Pr. I. MORTAD SERIR, and Dr. M. N. NEGADI, for their insightful teaching and activities. I would also express my utmost gratitude to the board examiners who have devoted energy and time to read this dissertation. My appreciation goes to Pr. BENMOUSSAT who will take the chair of the examination, to Pr. BEDJAOUI, Dr. BENYELLES, Dr. BElMEKKI and Dr. SENOUCI. Above all, my thanks go to those who helped me a lot in the completion of this piece of work. II ABSTRACT The present research work is an attempt to test Maghnia speakers’ attitudes towards using language. It aims to highlight the main socio-cultural factors that affect the construction of their language. It attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the language situation in Maghnia and, therefore, its impact on social interaction between both sexes. It also tends to prove that gender is one of the sociolinguistic variables that direct communication between humans. Another important purpose of this research work is to analyse the social structure of Maghnia families, especially, the norms that govern the relationship between females and males; and determine their position in this society. It aims to give an overview of the main stereotypes surrounding women’s behaviour and language. Thus, it provides a real image of the attitudes of both sexes. To these ends, this work is built on certain objectives which open a gate on the real sociolinguistic situation of using language in Maghnia speech community in relation to gender. Firstly, it attempts to prove that the attitudes of speakers depend largely on their identity, gender and age. Secondly, it tries to discover what is behind the commercial contact of Maghnia speakers. Lastly, it tends to examine the effect of the social position of females on their language use. In this regard, we have relied on some research tools to investigate the differences in using language. Consequently, the outcomes of this research work show that there is a wide difference between males and females in constructing and using language. The findings also indicate that the socio- cultural structure is the first and main factor for such difference. III List of Phonetic Symbols These phonetic symbols approximate the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): Consonants: Maghnia Arabic English Gloss ‘I do’ alek ‘perhaps’ i ‘ mine’ ma n ‘lorries’ a: ‘all’ ‘he fell down’ f ‘a nail’ rani nqasi ‘I’m suffering’ ra:h jn ‘he calls for prying’ lha ‘speech’ [lʔa] ‘harm’ r r ‘go’ maka:n ‘there is not’ anni ‘I’m singing’ l lars ‘marriage’ w wta ‘what’ j j ‘hand’ f fi:n ‘where’ imana ‘a week’ iv ‘a carpet’ arika ‘very rich’ ‘he came’ ajba ‘lazy’ ya ‘fine’ aleb ‘bootleggers’ jba ‘a handicap’ h hb ‘he escaped’ . .jii ‘it’s enough’ Vowels: Short Vowels ‘chair’ ‘bread’ ll ‘he opened’ o o ‘towel’ Long Vowels k ‘wake up’ l ‘broad beans’ ‘with what’ o .o:g ‘market’ v French Transcription French Alphabet French Transcription B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V W X Y j Z French vowels: a= a/, an = , on = , en = , e= , es=e, i= i, in = , un = , on= , eu= , = , = , o=, u= , ui = i, ou = . VI List of Acronyms and Abbreviations AA: Algerian Arabic. Fr: French. MSA: Modern Standard Arabic. VII List of Tables Table 2.1: Gender Differences in Language Use in Maghnia Speech Community......46 Table 3.1: Categories of the Informants........................................................................87 Table 3.2: The Educational and Occupational Level of the Participants......................89 Table 3.3: Gender Differences in Language Use..........................................................90 Table 3.4: Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting Gender Differences.................................91 Table 3.5: Age as the Main Factor of Language Differences between Genders...........92 Table 3.6: Women’s and Men’s Expressions................................................................94 Table 3.7: Gender and the Frequency of Language Use...............................................95 Table 3.8: Informants Attitudes towards the most Discussed Topic...........................96 Table 3.9: Language Use and the Geographical Location of Maghnia.......................97 Table 3.10: Bootleggers’ Language and Men’s Attitudes...........................................99 Table 3.11: The Main Reasons for Using Bootleggers’ Language in Maghnia..........100 Table 3.12: Women’s and Men’s Main Differences...................................................102 Table 3.13: Speakers’ Attitudes towards Selecting Terms Referring to Colours........103 Table 3.14: Women’s Attitudes towards French and Darija.......................................104 Table 3.15: Women’s and Men’s Attitudes towards French in Maghnia...................105 Table 3.16: The Main Reasons beyond Women’s Use of French...............................107 Table 3.17: The Difference between Men and Women in Using Taboos...................108 Table 3.18: Men’s and the Use of Taboos..................................................................109 Table 3.19: Women’s and the Use of Taboos.............................................................111 List of Figures Figure 3.1: Types of Interview .......................................……………………………..84 Figure 3.2: Gender Differences in Language Use.........................................................90 Figure 3.3: Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting Gender Differences...............................91 Figure 3.4: Age as the Main Factor of Language Differences between Genders..........93 Figure 3.5: Women’s and Men’s Expressions...............................................................94 Figure 3.6: Gender and the Frequency of Language Use..............................................95 Figure 3.7: Informants Attitudes towards the Most Discussed Topic...........................97 Figure 3.8: Language Use and the Geographical Location of Maghnia.......................98 Figure 3.9: Bootleggers’ Language and Men’s Attitudes.............................................99 Figure 3.10: The Main Reasons for Using Bootleggers’ Language in Maghnia.........101 Figure 3.11: Women’s and Men’s Main Differences..................................................102 Figure 3.12: Speaker’s Attitudes towards Selecting Terms Referring to colours.......103 Figure 3.13: Women’s Attitudes towards French and Darija......................................104 Figure 3.14: Women’s and Men’s Attitudes towards French in Maghnia..................106 Figure 3.15: The Main Reasons beyond Women’s Use of French..............................107 Figure 3.16: The Difference between Men and Women in Using Taboos..................108 Figure 3.17: Men’s and The Use of Taboos................................................................110 Figure 3.18: Women’s and The Use of Taboos...........................................................111 Contents Dedication..……………………………………………………………………………..I Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….....II Abstract………………………………………………………………………………..III List of Phonetic Symbols.…………………………………………………………….IV French Transcription.....................................................................................................VI List of Acronyms and Abbreviations………………………………………………...VII List of Tables..............................................................................................................VIII List of Figures...............................................................................................................IX Contents..........................................................................................................................X General Introduction........................................................................................................1 Chapter One: A Theoretical Background about Language and Gender...............06 1.1- Introduction.....................................................................................................07 1.2- Language and Speech Community.................................................................07 1.3- Sex and Gender...............................................................................................10 1.4- A Brief Review of Gender