Many of us over time have wondered why men and women are so different. Why do we act differently? Why do we speak differently? We may not have all the answers, but we are slowly isolating the differences between men and women, including their speech. Language features that we point out aren’t just because of the biological differences between men and women, but are also socially controlled, meaning these features are something we do. This is because gender itself refers to a socially constructed identity, as opposed to “sex,” which is the biological aspect. This leads us to the question, what are the differences in speech between men and women, and why?
Men and women may start out with biological differences, but that explanation only scratches the surface of our vastly different linguistic features. Vocal cord length and thickness begin to explain our perceived voice pitch. Although this explains some of the difference, according to Van Herk in "What Is Sociolinguistics?", “the actual pitch difference between men’s and women’s speech is usually larger than it would be if it was due to vocal cord length and thickness alone.” Women’s speech also tends to vary more in pitch movement than men’s speech. Men typically speak in a range of 80 to 200 Hertz, whereas women speak between 120 to 400 Hertz. This is one of the many linguistic features that we do because of the society we live in where gender roles are very binary.
From the time we start learning how to speak in “same-gender” talk, developmental differences between boys and girls begin to determine future linguistic features. By the age of five, boys have begun to socialize in larger groups than girls, often during competitive activities. They tend to develop hierarchical relations in this fashion, which affects their daily use of language. Girls of this age usually socialize in smaller groups, participating in cooperative activities with reciprocal relations and exchanging of roles. This development in language that happens so early in our lives affects how we speak forever, also affecting societies as a whole. Although men and women use the same lexicon and syntax, our speech tends to be very different.
Women use "hedges," like “sort of,” and "tag questions" such as “isn’t it?” after statements, showing lack of confidence or uncertainty. Men often use tag questions, but for antagonistic purposes. Van Herk points out some other common features associated with women’s speech is rising intonation, or “uptalk,” “empty” adjectives such as “cute,” precise color terms (sky blue, magenta), intensifiers (so good), and avoidance of strong swear words. It is also common for women to use more polite forms, such as indirect requests, and increased used of standard language forms. Van Herk writes,“Women use linguistic style shifting to position themselves with respect to social groups.”
In many ways, studies done on language across gender lines show us much about our society. In regards to polite forms and standard forms, Van Herk suggests: “Men have better access to some ways of marketing their social status (e.g. jobs), so women are encouraged to be more aware of other ways of doing that, including language.”
Because of the way boys develop their language skills, men often view speaking as “having the floor,” which is a goal. According to Yule in "The Study Of Language," men often interrupt more, speak for a longer duration, and in certain social circumstances such as religious events, men may be the only ones permitted to speak at all. Women often avoid interruptions, unless they are being used for affirmation or support purposes. In "A Concise Introduction to Linguistics, Levine and Rowe point out that one of the nonstandard language forms men regularly use in conversation is informal speech, characterized by /n/ →/ŋ/, multiple contractions, double negatives, and slang/taboo terms.
Many aspects of women’s language revolves around taking on the subordinate role in our society. How we speak about each gender is also just as important in the linguistic analysis as how each gender speaks, because socially controlled speech is shown in the way we describe each binary gender. Women are often stereotyped as weak, submissive, subordinate, and passive. Men consistently swear more, don't talk about emotions, talk about sport more, talk about women and machines in the same way, insult each other frequently, are competitive in conversation, dominate conversation, speak with more authority, give more commands, and interrupt more. Men are characterized in society as powerful, in charge, and dominant, as shown by their interruptions, speech duration, and conversation styles.
These differences found in linguistic features between men and women are also found in other cultures, showing the prevalence of binary gender societal views. Japanese is an example of a language from a different culture in which the male dominance carries into relative and representative linguistic features.
An analysis of linguistic features of men and women shows that differences are caused by a combination of biological differences related to sex, as well as the socially controlled aspects related to gender. Norms start to arise as soon as children begin to use language in a social context. These linguistic features are caused by our binary society, but they also continue to reinforce our binary views of gender rules.
