Implications of Social context in the Usage of Taboo words in Tehrani Male and Female Speech

Document Type : .

Author

Abstract

Most researchers who have studied differences between the genders in language usage believe that women use language more correctly than men. For this reason, it has been argued that the use of taboo words cannot be considered as a quality of female speech. A considerable amount of research is carried out to see whether sociolinguistic factors, such as education and age, affect the use of taboo words.
The main objective of the present study is to investigate different linguistic behaviours in Tehrani Persian-speakers, with a focus on the differences in the applications of types of taboo words, the frequency of their usage, the effects of social context on the choice of such words, the addressee, and the incentives for or inhibitions on the use of taboo words. Three main variables were in focus: gender, two age groups (19-29 & 30-40), and education. The methodology consisted of the collection of taboo words which were later used in three different contexts (exclusively female, exclusively male, and combined context). Fifteen taboo words were selected from recorded cassettes and included in the questionnaires.
The findings demonstrated that: men use more taboo words than women; there exists a specific taboo word for men, and that both men and women at higher age use male specific taboos less frequently. The findings also showed that women with higher education attempt to be more polite, and that selection of typical addressees for using male-specific taboos is done discriminately in both age groups in males, who use them when addressing males. 

به فایل پی دی اف مراجعه شود

باطنی، محمدرضا (1354). مسائل زبان‌شناسی نوین. تهران: آگاه.
پانوف، میشل و میشل پرن (1368). فرهنگ مردم‌شناسی. ترجمة دکتر اصغر عسکری‌خانقاه، تهران: نشر ویس.
ساپیر، ادوارد (1376). زبان: درآمدی بر مطالعة سخن‌گفتن. ترجمة محمد حق‌شناس، تهران: انتشارات سروش.
فروید، زیگموند (1351). توتم و تابو. ترجمة محمدعلی خنجی، تهران: انتشارات طهوری.
گولد، جولیوس و ویلیام ل. کولب (1376). فرهنگ علوم اجتماعی. ویراستار: محمدجواد زاهدی‌مازندرانی، تهران: انتشارات مازیار.
مدرسی، یحیی (1368). درآمدی در جامعه‌شناسی‌زبان. تهران: مؤسسة مطالعات و تحقیقات فرهنگی.
ناتل خانلری، پرویز (1348). تاریخ زبان فارسی. ج 1. تهران: انتشارات بنیاد فرهنگ ایران.
 
Axtell , R.E.(1991). Gestures : The Do’s and Taboos of Body Language Around the World. New York : John Wiley & Sons , Inc .
Britannica World Language Dictionary. Philip . W . Goetz .(ed) (1994), Chicago : Frunk & Wagnalls Co . ( 15th ed ) Vol .8:928 , Vol .11:483 – 484 .
Brown , P&S . Levinson (1980). “Universals in Language Usage: Politeness Phenomena”. in Esther N.Goody (ed). Questions and Politeness Strategies in Social Interaction, Cambridge :CambridgeUniversity Press : 56-310 .
Douglas, M. (1970). Natural Symbols. New York : Vintage :11 .
Fasold , R. (1990). The Sociolinguistics of Language. Oxford : Blackwell Publishers : 90-113 .
Fishman , P. (1990). “ Conversational Insecurity” . In D.Cameron . (ed) The Feminist Critique of  Language : A Reader,New York : Routledge : 234-250 .
Freud , S. (1925). “In General Psychological Theory”, New York: Mac Millan , In the Origins of Religion : Totem and Taboo. London : Penguin .
Hass , M. (1957). “Interlingual Word Taboos”. Language in Culture and Society . D .Hymes . (ed).New York : Harper . 1964 , : 489 –494.
Jesperson , O. (1922). Language . It’s Nature Development and Origin. London : George Allen and Uhwin .
Labov , W. (1966). The Social Stratification of English. New York .Washington D.C : Center for applied linguistics .
Mc Connel – Ginet , S .(1990). “Gender , Politeness and Confrontation in Tenejapa”, Discourse Processes. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press : 13 , 123-141 .
-Ochs , E. (1992). “Indexing Gender” . in C.Goodwin and I . Duranti (eds.) . Rethinking Context : Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge :CambridgeUniversity Press .
Poyton , C. (1989). Language and Gender : Making the Difference. Oxford :Oxford University Press : 53-57 .
Romaine , S. (1994). Language in Society.  London :OxfordUniversity Press : 115 .
Smith , J. (1992). “Women in Charge : Politeness and Directives in the Speech of Japanese Women”. Language in Society :21 . 59-82.
Steiner  (1956). Taboo . Middlesex : Penguin : 20 .
Tannen , D. (ed). (1993). Gender and Conversational Interaction. Oxford :OxfordUniversity Press .
Trudgill , P. (1983). Sociolinguistics : An Introduction to Language and Society. Harmond Sworth : Penguin Books : 87 .
Wardhaugh , R. (1992). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics .(2nd.ed) .Oxford : Basil Blackwell .