GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF LINGUISTIC FORMS: A STUDY OF NOLLYWOOD MOVIES

Chinyelu Nwaenyi

Abstract


Many sociolinguistic studies contrast women’s and men’s language use. Differences in the way that men and women use language have long been of interest in the study of discourse. In this study, gender differences in language use were examined in Nollywood films using Robin Lakoff’s model which states that women’s speech style is defiant and inferior to men’s style. This investigation has basically consisted in identifying, describing and analyzing two Nollywood films in which instances of intensifiers and minimal responses found in the conversations of both male and female characters are noticeable by applying a descriptive qualitative method of research. The findings reveal that intensifiers and minimal responses are used by both male and female characters, but males use minimal responses more, not to show weakness, but to buttress and reinforce their points while females use intensifiers more because of the social role attached to them.


Keywords


Language, gender, Nollywood, intensifiers, minimal responses

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Filmography

Adams, N. (Producer) and Ifeanyi, O. (Director). (2018). Black Men Rock [Motion picture. Nigeria. Adams Film Studios.

Mohammed, A. (Producer) and Stephen, B. (Director) (2018). Let Karma [Motion picture]. Nigeria. Tisha Studios.


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