Male/female language in marrakesh: a sociolinguistic study

The present study seeks to investigate male/female language in Marrakesh. It does not concentrate on the linguistic differences per se, rather it is an attempt to highlight the underlining factors which determine these differences, and which brought about a great deal of controversy in the literature on language and sex. To achieve this aim, two main procedures were used in the collection of data. These are a questionnaire and recordings of naturally occurring conversations. The results give strong evidence that male/female language in Marrakesh is perceived differently by both men and women. The linguistic differences tend to reflect social inequality between the sexes. Despite the social and educational changes that took place in Marrakesh, people's attitudes towards women and their language remained unshaken. Female's use of language, compared to that of men, is still negatively evaluated. The results also seem to indicate that the sex of the speaker is one of the most outstanding variables influencing male/female language differences. In addition, the results emphasize the fact that other factors such as age and social class can also affect language use. It was also found that each of the determining factors operates according to the context of use. This includes participants, topic and situation. Finally, the study proposes another way out to redress women's image in society other than changing sexist language. Based on a sample from the Arab world, the present study can be considered as a new outlook in the development of the study of male/female language.(DX174177)