6.1079, Disc: Sex/Lang, Re: 1077

[The Linguist List]

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-6-1079. Fri Aug 11 1995. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  88
 
Subject: 6.1079, Disc: Sex/Lang, Re: 1077
 
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---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Fri, 11 Aug 1995 14:10:22 EDT
From:  sstraigh at bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu ("H. Stephen Straight (Binghamton Un
iversity/SUNY)")
Subject:  Re: Disc: Sex/Lang
 
2)
Date:  Fri, 11 Aug 1995 12:34:33 +0600
From:  Lang_lem at centum.utulsa.edu (Lydie Meunier)
Subject:  Re: 6.1077, Disc: Sex/Lang, Re: 1070
 
---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Fri, 11 Aug 1995 14:10:22 EDT
From:  sstraigh at bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu ("H. Stephen Straight (Binghamton Un
iversity/SUNY)")
Subject:  Re: Disc: Sex/Lang
 
In our focus on the epicene pronoun that doubles as the masculine pronoun,
and the generic noun (e.g. Man) that doubles as the masculine form, we
sometimes let logic, and the theory of markedness, overwhelm psychology.
The evidence, I believe, strongly supports the claim that even in clearly
non-specific contexts these items trigger masculine prototypes in
receivers.  "Every one of the members of the Boys and Girls Club loves his
parents."  "The cultures of the world provide ample testimony on the
extent of man's capacity to adapt to different environments."  No matter
that the situations logically embrace both sexes (and all genders :-),
the damage is done.
 
Yucatec Maya, by the way, has no grammatical gender and, to the best of my
knowledge, exhibits no morphological or semantic tendency toward treating
either sex as the unmarked member of the pair.  There are often separate
nouns for the two sexes (e.g. _suku'un_ 'older brother', _kiik_ 'older
sister'), and ways to mark nouns as referring to one or the other sex
(e.g. the prefixes_hshi'ib-_ 'male', _shch'u'ub-_ 'female') but without
marking (e.g. _paal_ 'child', _i'c'in_ 'younger sibling') I do not believe
the nouns evoke a sex-specific prototype.  I'll admit, though, that I
haven't checked.  There's a nice thesis topic!
 
H Stephen STRAIGHT, Anthro/Ling/Lgs Across the Curric, Binghamton U (SUNY)
Box 6000, Binghamton NY 13902-6000   Tel: 607-777-2824   Fax: 607-777-2889
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2)
Date:  Fri, 11 Aug 1995 12:34:33 +0600
From:  Lang_lem at centum.utulsa.edu (Lydie Meunier)
Subject:  Re: 6.1077, Disc: Sex/Lang, Re: 1070
 
Question raised in answer to Alexis Manaster Ramer who writes:
 
>SO what it all boils down to, again, is that I maintain that
>it makes no sense whatever to discuss the origin of the
>epicene he phenomenon in the context of the story of
>English prescriptive grammar, but only in the context of
>the way in which perceptions of sex roles have informed
>the structure of language (as of any other institution).
 
Have perceptions of sex roles informed us on the structure of language, or
does the structure of language enlighten us on socially acquired yet still
subconscious sexist behavior of today's Homo Sapiens?
 
***********************************************
Je pense donc je baragouine....
***********************************************
 Lydie E. Meunier / Department of Languages
 University of Tulsa / Tel: 918 631 2813 (O)
lang_lem at centum.utulsa.edu / Fax: 918 744 1902
***********************************************
 
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