When She and He become It
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Chryso Hadjidemetriou
Abstract
This paper is based on empirical data with adult speakers bilingual in Armenian and Cypriot Greek and examines the results of the contact between Armenian and Cypriot Greek (CG) in Cyprus. The focus is on the use of the grammatical gender of CG by the Armenians of Cyprus. The speakers interviewed are divided into two groups: (a) Cypriot-Armenians (CyAs) who were born in or arrived to Cyprus as infants, and (b) non-Cypriot-Armenians (non-CyAs) who arrived to Cyprus as teenagers or young adults. Variables such as age, sex, generation for the CyA group and length of exposure to CG and intensity of contact for the non-CyA group are taken into consideration. The overall results show that the use of grammatical gender is problematic for both groups exhibiting similarities in terms of the location of grammatical deviations in noun phrases, difficulties in gender agreement, and the preference for the use of the neuter gender.
Abstract
This paper is based on empirical data with adult speakers bilingual in Armenian and Cypriot Greek and examines the results of the contact between Armenian and Cypriot Greek (CG) in Cyprus. The focus is on the use of the grammatical gender of CG by the Armenians of Cyprus. The speakers interviewed are divided into two groups: (a) Cypriot-Armenians (CyAs) who were born in or arrived to Cyprus as infants, and (b) non-Cypriot-Armenians (non-CyAs) who arrived to Cyprus as teenagers or young adults. Variables such as age, sex, generation for the CyA group and length of exposure to CG and intensity of contact for the non-CyA group are taken into consideration. The overall results show that the use of grammatical gender is problematic for both groups exhibiting similarities in terms of the location of grammatical deviations in noun phrases, difficulties in gender agreement, and the preference for the use of the neuter gender.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Periphery, gender, language 1
-
I. Undoing grammatical gender
- Trying to change a gender-marked language 25
- Gender marking and the feminine imaginary in Arabic 47
- A poststructuralist approach to structural gender linguistics 65
- A hermeneutical approach to gender linguistic materiality 89
- Gender bias in Bantu languages 129
- The representation of gender in Bajjika grammar and discourse 165
- The lexical paradigm based on sex distinction and the semantics of its constituents in English and Belarusian 195
-
II. Intersectional peripheries
- When She and He become It 227
- Lakota men’s and women’s speech 257
- “Moldovan” and feminist language politics 285
- Eastern boys and girls! Comparative linguistic anthropologies of lesbian and gay communities, Kuala Lumpur and Sorwool 323
- Harlots and whores but not lovers 353
- About the contributors 381
- Language index 387
- Name index 389
- Subject index 395
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Periphery, gender, language 1
-
I. Undoing grammatical gender
- Trying to change a gender-marked language 25
- Gender marking and the feminine imaginary in Arabic 47
- A poststructuralist approach to structural gender linguistics 65
- A hermeneutical approach to gender linguistic materiality 89
- Gender bias in Bantu languages 129
- The representation of gender in Bajjika grammar and discourse 165
- The lexical paradigm based on sex distinction and the semantics of its constituents in English and Belarusian 195
-
II. Intersectional peripheries
- When She and He become It 227
- Lakota men’s and women’s speech 257
- “Moldovan” and feminist language politics 285
- Eastern boys and girls! Comparative linguistic anthropologies of lesbian and gay communities, Kuala Lumpur and Sorwool 323
- Harlots and whores but not lovers 353
- About the contributors 381
- Language index 387
- Name index 389
- Subject index 395
