아랍어에 나타난 여성언어의 특징에 관한 연구: 리비아 트리플리 방언을 중심으로

A Study on the Characteristics o Women's Language in Arabic of the City of Tripoli, Libya

The first systematical study on the relationship between gender and language in English was conducted by Robin Lakoff in 1973. Since then, many socio-linguistics researchers have followed her study to examine the differences between women's and men's language. The common characteristics of women's language that they have suggested are as follows: First, women tend to distinguish and describe colors in detail and delicacy. Secondly, Women express their feelings by using certain meaningless phrases or exclamatory expressions. Thirdly, women use certain feminine adjectives rather than neutral adjectives that are used by both men and women. Fourthly, women use the tag Questions more often than men do. Fifthly, women are more sensitive than men in using exact expressions based on the grammatical standards. This paper tried to apply Lakoff's theory to Arabic to analyze its characteristics of women's language. The subjects of this study were female and male university students in the capital area to minimize biases caused by the age, education level, and regional factors. Since using the Standard Arabic might make little difference between women's and men's language, the interviewees were asked to answer in the colloquial Arabic. The interviews and Questionnaires had been conducted in Fatiha University male and female students in Tripoli, Libya during January 15-23, 2003. 39 female and 39 male students were interviewed and 49 female and 49 male students answered on the written Questionnaires. Through the analysis of the data, the five characteristics of women's language which Lakoff and other scholars have pointed out in English were also found in Arabic. Libyan female students tended to express the colors more in detail. using various kinds of metaphors than the male students who expressed them in basic colors. They also used a lot of exclamations in both positive and negative cases. Women used feminine and sensitive adjectives. They also tried to use more polite expressions, while the male students used impolite imperative sentences. Unlike the previous research findings which suggested that Arab men tend to use more standard expressions than Arab women, this study showed that Arab women tend to use more standard expressions than men do under the condition of the same educational background.