ABSTRACT

Sexism in language is a universal phenomenon in various language systems, which is always a hot topic of linguists. Language is a mirror of social phenomenon. It reflects all aspects of our society. Sexism in language arises as a result of the influence of certain social and cultural factors on language. As a carrier of culture, language in turn has certain influence on people’s mode of thinking, conduct and social culture construction. Thus what we study is not just a phenomenon of sexism in language, but also historical origin and cultural background under the surface.

This thesis aims to make a contrastive study of the sexism in English and Chinese systematically. Contrastive analysis is the main approach adopted in the thesis. From the thesis, sexism in language is closely linked with the social environment, cultural background, physiological and psychological factors. All of these factors have a profound effect on sexsim in language. Sexism exists in all aspects of English and Chinese. Although the two languages belong to different language systems, they have much in common that woman language is at a disadvantage position which also reflects the lower status of woman than man. To eradicate sexism in language radically, improving social status of woman is an important move.

Key words: sexism; language; English; Chinese; Comparative study

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-2

Chapter Three  ORIGINS OF SEXISM IN LANGUAGE-4

3.1 Social Perspective-4

3.2 Cultural Perspective-4

3.3 Physiological and Psychological Perspective-5

Chapter Four  COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SEXISM IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE-7

4.1 Representations of Linguistic Sexism in English and Chinese-7   

4.1.1 Generic Masculine-8

4.1.2 Word Order-8

4.1.3 Naming and Address Terms-8

4.1.4 Negative Connotations of Women’s Words-9

4.1.5 Sexual Stereotype in Language-9

4.1.6 Expressions in Social Life-9

4.2 Similarities and Differences of the Representation in English and Chinese-10

4.2.1 Similarities-10

4.2.2 Differences-10

Chapter Five  REASONS FOR CHANGING SEXISM IN LANGUAGE-12

5.1 Language and Reality-12

5.2 Necessity of Language Change to Match Social Change-13

5.3 Linguistic Realization of Women’s Liberation-13

Chapter Six  STRATEGIES OF CHANGING SEXISM IN LANGUAGE-15

6.1 Promotion of Non-sexist words-15

6.2 Avoiding Gender Stereotyping in Discourse-15

6.3 Social Change-16

Chapter Seven  CONCLUSION-17

REFERENCES-18