Women, Men and Language: A Sociolinguistic Account of Gender Differences in Language

Women, Men and Language, 3rd Ed provides an up-to-date account of gender differences in language to answer the question: "Do women and men talk differently?"

The book takes the reader from an initial "men talk like this; women talk like that" approach to a more nuanced idea of women and men performing gender in their everyday interactions. It covers a range of sociolinguistic research, looking at grammatical and phonological features a well as at aspects of conversation such as compliments or swearing, and the growing use of the word ‘like’ by younger speakers. Written in a clear and accessible manner, the book explores:

• the idea that gender is not a given but is socially constructued
• the linguistic strategies used by male speakers to dominate female speakers
• the characteristics of language use in same-sex groups
• the way children develop gender-appropriate speech
• the role played by gender in language change
• the social consequences of gender differentiated language in the workplace and in the classroom

This updated third edition concludes with a new chapter summarising new developments and assessing possible future trends for the area.

Using both historical record and contemporary sociolinguistic research, Women, Men and Language succinctly demonstrates that women and men do talk differently.