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A Sociolinguistic Study of Sexism in English and Chinese

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A Sociolinguistic Study of Sexism in English and Chinese
A Sociolinguistic Study of Sexism
In English and Chinese

A Thesis
Submitted to
College of Foreign Languages
Xingtan College
Qufu Normal University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

By Xin Luxiang
Under the Supervision of Zhu He

May 2011

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Zhu He, my supervisor, who has given me constant and valuable advice, read it through meticulously and offered incisive comments on it. Without her help, the thesis could never have reached its present form. My sincere gratitude also goes to all my teachers who have given me excellent lectures and great help, which are indispensable to the completion of this thesis. I also give my hearty thanks to all my classmates who have offered generous help and useful suggestions in the process of writing this thesis. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to all the writers whose works have been referred to in this thesis.

摘 要

对语言中的性别歧视现象的研究由来已久,并随着东西方女权运动的兴起而日渐深入。二十世纪二十年代,许多语言学家和社会学家认为英语中的大量词汇只能单独用于男性或女性,并且被赋予了不同的感情色彩。基于性别的差异而出现的语言歧视,特别是针对女性的歧视现象不仅存在于英语中也存在于汉语中。这篇文章从表现形式和形成原因等角度入手对汉语和英语中存在的性别歧视现象进行了比较分析,旨在帮助英语学习者更好地了解两种语言和文化,从而有效地消除语言中的性别歧视,帮助建立公正、公平的和谐社会。

关键词:性别歧视;英语和汉语;语言和社会生活;原因

ABSTRACT

The research on sexism in English can be traced back to a long time ago. In the 1920s, many linguists and socialists have put forward this view that there were so many words in English that can only be used for male or female. The research on sexism in Chinese just followed woman 's rights movement in 1919. Words that show the discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women are very common not only in past period but also in our time. This paper discusses sexism in the two languages and cultures from a comparative perspective. Studying this issue would help English learners understand both languages and cultures from this aspect and help



Cited: Jesperson. Phrasing Philosophy. 北京: 商务印书馆, 1982. Spender, D. Man Made Language, Routledge﹠Kegan Paul, 1980. 戴炜栋. 语言性别差异分析综述 [J]. 外国语, 1983 (6). 林语堂. 吾国与吾民 [M]. 北京: 外语教学与研究出版社, 2005. 杨永林. 社会语言学研究: 功能·称谓·性别篇 [M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2004. 赵蓉晖. 社会语言学 [M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2005.

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