女性话语假说的微观验证——以汉语中的语用缓和语为例

A micro-test of "Women's Discourse Hypothesis":a case study of Chinese mitigators

基于冲突话语语料,对男女两性使用语用缓和语以及指示性话语进行比较,以语用缓和语为例来检验社会语言研究中的"女性话语假说",具有时效性和科学性。性别话语假说的效度判断并非简单的二元切分,这具体表现为如下两个方面:第一,女性比男性运用的语用缓和语更多,同时女性对于语言的敏感性要强于男性,其对于语言的控制力优于男性;第二,女性会根据语境选择相应的指示性词语,并表现出离散性与灵活性特征。从上述意义上讲,充分考虑语境因素影响的性别话语研究更有可能得到客观可信的研究结论,并且将性别话语研究推向一个更高的层次。

On the basis of conflict discourse,this paper tries to verify the 'Women's Discourse Hypothesis' with Chinese mitigators as a case.Via comparing the use of mitigators and directing expressions by both genders,the paper is intended to test the validity and universality of the hypothesis empirically.It is found that the test of such a hypothesis is far from a binary judgment in the form of the ensuing points: first,female is employing more mitigators than male with sharper sense of contextualization and language competence;second,female would more appropriately respond to the contextual correlates,which characterize diversity and flexibility.In these senses,the study of gendered discourse will never arrive at an objective and reliable conclusion unless contextualization is taken into consideration,which will earn more currency in promoting the study of gendered discourse to a systemic stage.