Are gendered terms inference-loaded? Evidence from Greek talk-in-interaction

Authors

  • Angeliki Alvanoudi Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and James Cook University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jld.40369

Keywords:

grammatical gender, lexical gender, inference, gendered noticing, Greek, conversation analysis

Abstract

The present study examines the relation between referential indexing of gender and speakers’ cognition in instances of gendered noticing in Greek talk-in-interaction, drawing on audio recordings of informal conversations as data and on conversation analysis as method. Gendered noticing occurs after actions that invoke specific presuppositions about gender, such as the norm of heterosexuality and stereotypes regarding ‘typical’ feminine and masculine attributes and behaviour. Speakers deploy gendered terms to attend to gender as a relevant aspect of context, and to position the self and others as women or men. It is shown that via gendered noticing, speakers uncover their covert assumptions about social gender and bring their conceptualisations of gender to the ‘surface’.

Author Biography

  • Angeliki Alvanoudi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and James Cook University
    Angeliki Alvanoudi is Lecturer at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an Adjunct Lecturer in Linguistics at James Cook University, Australia. She has written the books Grammatical gender in interaction: Cultural and cognitive aspects (Brill, 2014) and Modern Greek in diaspora: An Australian perspective (Palgrave Pivot, 2018), and has published articles in the journals Gender and Language, Journal of Greek Linguistics, and Text & Talk.

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Published

2020-05-06

How to Cite

Alvanoudi, A. (2020). Are gendered terms inference-loaded? Evidence from Greek talk-in-interaction. Journal of Language and Discrimination, 4(1), 74-97. https://doi.org/10.1558/jld.40369