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The Non-Sexist Language Debate in French and English

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The Non-Sexist Language Debate in French and English The Non-sexist Language Debate in French and English COADY, Ann Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/24058/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Please visit http://shura.shu.ac.uk/24058/ and http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html for further details about copyright and re-use permissions. The non-sexist language debate in French and English Ann Coady A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sheffield Hallam University October 2018 Table of contents Table of contents ........................................................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................................... v Candidate's Statement ............................................................................................................................................................ vi Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1: Where this thesis is located in the field of language and gender ....................................................... 1 1.2: Justification for this research ............................................................................................................................ 2 1.3: Research aims .......................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4: Research approach ................................................................................................................................................. 4 1.5: Research boundaries ............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.6: Outline of the thesis ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: Theorising sexist language ......................................................................................................... 7 2.1: The waves: a brief description .......................................................................................................................... 7 2.2: Defining sexism ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 2.3: Structuralist perspectives: Second wave feminist linguistics .......................................................... 11 2.3.1: The 3Ds: Deficit, Difference and Dominance ............................................................................. 12 2.3.1.1: Female invisibility ................................................................................................................ 14 2.3.1.2: Asymmetrical gender-marking ...................................................................................... 15 2.3.1.3: Semantic derogation ........................................................................................................... 17 2.3.2: In defence of second wave ................................................................................................................. 20 2.4: Poststructuralist perspectives (1): Third wave feminist linguistics ............................................. 21 2.4.1: Sexist 'Discourses' ................................................................................................................................. 22 2.4.2: Linguistic wounding ............................................................................................................................. 24 2.4.3: Conceptual baggage .............................................................................................................................. 25 2.4.4: Discursive sedimentation ................................................................................................................... 27 2.4.5: Functional weight .................................................................................................................................. 28 2.5: Poststructuralist perspectives (2): Queer linguistics .......................................................................... 29 2.5.1: Binarity ....................................................................................................................................................... 30 2.5.2: Markedness .............................................................................................................................................. 32 2.5.2.1: Semantic specification ....................................................................................................... 34 2.5.2.2: Restricted distribution ....................................................................................................... 36 2.5.2.3: Contextual neutralisation ................................................................................................. 36 2.5.2.4: Overt coding ........................................................................................................................... 37 2.5.2.5: Conceptual difficulty ........................................................................................................... 39 2.6: Summary ................................................................................................................................................................. 40 Chapter 3: A historiographical approach to sexism in language ...................................................... 42 3.1: Ideology: a definition ......................................................................................................................................... 43 3.2: Language Ideology .............................................................................................................................................. 46 3.3: Iconization .............................................................................................................................................................. 49 3.4: Fractal recursivity ............................................................................................................................................... 54 3.4.1: The origin of the feminine grammatical gender ....................................................................... 56 3.4.2: Social gender projected onto inanimate nouns ........................................................................ 59 3.4.3: The masculine takes precedence .................................................................................................... 60 3.4.4: Semantic pejoration .............................................................................................................................. 62 3.5: Erasure ..................................................................................................................................................................... 66 3.5.1: The masculine as 'heir of the Latin neuter' ................................................................................ 66 3.6: Linguistic authority ............................................................................................................................................. 69 3.7: Summary ................................................................................................................................................................. 72 Chapter 4: Language ideological debates in the UK and France ....................................................... 74 4.1: The current sociolinguistic context ............................................................................................................. 75 4.2: Standardisation .................................................................................................................................................... 77 4.3: Linguistic protectionism ................................................................................................................................... 78 4.4: Le bon usage as a linguistic straitjacket ..................................................................................................... 79 4.5: One language, one nation ................................................................................................................................. 80 4.6: The Cathedral (French) and the Bazaar (English) ................................................................................. 82 ii 4.7: The Académie française versus the government ..................................................................................
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