Transgender Language, Transgender Moment: Toward a Trans Linguistics

Author(s):  
Lal Zimman

This chapter sketches out trans linguistics as an emerging framework for research on language in populations defined by their deviation from gender norms. Although queer linguistics has always been concerned with both sexual and gender (non)normativity, some early queer linguistic analyses of transgender or otherwise gender-variant populations were limited by the absence of openly trans scholars and distinctively trans analytic perspectives. Trans linguistics, by contrast, centers trans practices and subjectivities not as rare exceptions, but as central to any understanding of gender. Three domains of language are discussed here, including grammatical gender, gender difference in the voice, and gender in discourse. In each case, trans linguistic research offers new perspectives on gendered power, the nature of categories, the significance of embodiment, and the linguistic navigation of persistent dehumanization. Crucially, trans linguistics is committed not only to trans analytic lenses, but also to social and linguistic justice for gender non-normative communities.

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 778-805
Author(s):  
Shagata Mukherjee

This study examines the underlying factors that drive gender differences in trust and trustworthiness. Is gender difference in trust behavior motivated by variations in social context and gender norms? I study this question by conducting trust experiments in comparable and neighboring matrilineal and patrilineal societies in India. I find that the matrilineal subjects are more trusting than the patrilineal ones, although there is substantial heterogeneity across gender. In the matrilineal society, men are significantly more trusting but no more trustworthy than women, while in the patrilineal society, men are neither more trusting nor more trustworthy than women. My findings thus suggest that societal structure is crucially linked to the observed gender differences in trust and trustworthiness.


Author(s):  
Lisa Irmen ◽  
Julia Kurovskaja

Grammatical gender has been shown to provide natural gender information about human referents. However, due to formal and conceptual differences between masculine and feminine forms, it remains an open question whether these gender categories influence the processing of person information to the same degree. Experiment 1 compared the semantic content of masculine and feminine grammatical gender by combining masculine and feminine role names with either gender congruent or incongruent referents (e.g., Dieser Lehrer [masc.]/Diese Lehrerin [fem.] ist mein Mann/meine Frau; This teacher is my husband/my wife). Participants rated sentences in terms of correctness and customariness. In Experiment 2, in addition to ratings reading times were recorded to assess processing more directly. Both experiments were run in German. Sentences with grammatically feminine role names and gender incongruent referents were rated as less correct and less customary than those with masculine forms and incongruent referents. Combining a masculine role name with an incongruent referent slowed down reading to a greater extent than combining a feminine role name with an incongruent referent. Results thus specify the differential effects of masculine and feminine grammatical gender in denoting human referents.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S Nichols ◽  
Marc F Joanisse

We investigated the extent to which second-language (L2) learning is influenced by the similarity of grammatical features in one’s first language (L1). We used event-related potentials to identify neural signatures of a novel grammatical rule - grammatical gender - in L1 English speakers. Of interest was whether individual differences in L2 proficiency and age of acquisition (AoA) influenced these effects. L2 and native speakers of French read French sentences that were grammatically correct, or contained either a grammatical gender or word order violation. Proficiency and AoA predicted Left Anterior Negativity amplitude, with structure violations driving the proficiency effect and gender violations driving the AoA effect. Proficiency, group, and AoA predicted P600 amplitude for gender violations but not structure violations. Different effects of grammatical gender and structure violations indicate that L2 speakers engage novel grammatical processes differently from L1 speakers and that this varies appreciably based on both AoA and proficiency.


Author(s):  
Mehdi Forouzesh ◽  
Abdolrazagh Barzegar ◽  
Fardin Fallah

Palmaris Longus (PL) is a muscle of the forearm, i.e., not functionally necessary and does not exist in all people. It is a choice for tendon graft and investigating its prevalence is of clinical importance. During April-October 2009, 102 cadavers (78 males, 24 females) were bilaterally necropsied for PL exploration in Zanjan City, Iran. PL Absence (PLA) was observed in 37 (36.3%) cases (28 males, 9 females). PLA prevalence was similar in men (36%) and women (37.5%). Of PLA cases, 19 (51%) were unilateral (14 males, 5 females), and 18 (49%) were bilateral (14 males, 4 females). In conclusion, PLA prevalence of 36.3% in our population was similar to other studies conducted in Iran. We found no gender difference in PLA prevalence and its patterns. Due to geographical variability in PLA rate, future regional and national studies with more magnificent sample sizes are recommended to determine the prevalence and gender-specific patterns of PLA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-425
Author(s):  
Bruce Connell

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of grammatical gender and agreement in Durop, a language of the Upper Cross subgroup of Cross River. The data used are drawn from Kastelein (Kastelein, Bianca. 1994. A phonological and grammatical sketch of DuRop. Leiden: University of Leiden Scriptie), whose analysis treats gender as the singular – plural pairings of nouns different from the present approach. Kastelein identifies eight concord classes (agreement classes); these form the basis of gender in Durop in the present analysis; as many as 24 agreement classes are identified here. The various systems comprising nominal classification, agreement and gender in Durop are compared and discussed. The agreement system comprises three subsystems of differing numbers of agreement classes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 815-819
Author(s):  
Anjalee Kohli ◽  
Ni Luh Putu Maitra Agastya ◽  
Ben Cislaghi ◽  
Marie-Celine Schulte

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document