The Social Semiotics of Language and Gender

Abstract

Language plays a very significant role in the maintenance of sex role stereotypes. Recent research suggests that gender nouns such as ma n are not generic terms referring to humans but often refer exclusively to the male . The use of such terms in various role contexts serves to deny females identification in these contexts and st ereotypes the females a nd males. This paper investigates the nature and contex t of what has now come to be re garded as sexism in language, for example, Gikuyu lan guage. This paper examined the place and role of langua ge in gender in a social semiotic framework and th e extent to which the lexicon of the Gikuyu language is sexist. The study that constitutes the major framework on which this paper is based achieved this though a computer-based corpus of spontaneous conversational da ta between Gikuyu speakers. The basic argument is that langua ges such as Gikuyu relegate females to a subordinate position to a subordinate position in whic h their roles and functions are s uppressed in favour of the males. The conclusion is th at language needs to re define and exclude certain terms that hamper women’s development and that have created nega tive perceptions of th e female and her image especially while promoting the male at the expense of the female