The category (Greek) ‘woman’, or ‘lady’, or ‘girl’, or ‘lass’, or…

Authors

  • Marianthi Makri-Tsilipakou Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v9i1.18469

Keywords:

accountability, category-boundedness, gender, indexicality, mcds, occasionedness, repair/reformulation, sexism

Abstract

This paper examines instances of the use of Greek category terms for women in the context of consecutive repairs/reformulations. It turns out that most of the times category terms actually categorise, rather than simply refer as (non-)recognitionals, in a reflexive interaction with category-bound predicates, the linguistic cotext and relevant (often sexist) conventional/cultural knowledge. Interestingly, gendered items do not always (primarily) index gender as they might be foregrounding other aspects of the interaction as well, thus documenting their highly indexical character.

Author Biography

  • Marianthi Makri-Tsilipakou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

    Marianthi Makri-Tsilipakou, professor of sociolinguistics at the Department of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, has pioneered conversation analysis research in Greece since the late 1980s, combined with the investigation of gender production, both in her research and teaching. Her work comprises ethomethodological/ethnographic studies of Greek culture and language practices, with an emphasis on highlighting social/linguistic discrimination and detecting ongoing changes, as instanced in everyday interaction. She has published extensively in both Greek and English on numerous topics of both local and international relevance (such as address forms, interruptions, conversational laughter, diminutives, eye witness speak, sign language, repair, sexual orientation and language).

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Published

2015-03-19

Issue

Section

Special Issue Articles

How to Cite

Makri-Tsilipakou, M. (2015). The category (Greek) ‘woman’, or ‘lady’, or ‘girl’, or ‘lass’, or…. Gender and Language, 9(1), 33-58. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v9i1.18469