Status, deference and respect
February 7, 2007 |
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Social status is marked in a variety of ways across cultures. The
grammars of many languages require speakers to mark the relative
status between themselves and their interlocutors and even third
parties. When the grammar does not provide resources for this, there
are many other ways to mark - hence to produce and reproduce - status
in speech. Today's class will discuss these devices and then go on to
discuss the role of deference and respect in the construction of gender.
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