1.3.2.2 The use of tag question
The tag question is a syntactic device listed by Lakoff which may express uncertainty. A tag, in its usage as well as its syntactic shape in English is midway between an outright
statement and a yes-no question. Female is uncertain about something, and indicates this with a tag which signals doubt about what she asserting. The tag appears anyway as an apology for
amking an assertion at all. Anyone may do this if she lacks self-confidence, as everyone does in some situations. It is also precisely because they are socialized to believe that asserting
themselves strongly isn‟t nice or ladylike, or even feminine. Lakoff in Holmes 1992: 318 said that tag question may be functioned to express affective maning as facilitate or positive
politeness device and to soften a directive or criticism and as confrontational and coercive devices.
Example: 50 she is very nice, is not she ?
1.3.2.3 The use of rising or question intonation on declaratives
There is a peculiar sentence intonation pattern, found in English only among females, which has the form of a declarative answer to a question, and is used as such, but has the rising
inflection typical of a yes-no question, as well as being especially hesitant. The effect is as though one were seeking confirmation, though at the same time the speaker may be the only one
who has the requisite information. Example: 51 it is really good?
1.3.2.4 The use of “empty” adjectives, such as cute, sweet, and lovely
It is group of adjectives which have another use that indicate the speaker‟s approbation or admiration for something. Some of these adjectives are neutral for both sex of speaker; either
male or female may use them. But another set seems, in its figurative use, to be largely confined to female‟s speech. Examples of these adjectives according to lakoff as follow:
Example: 52
Empty adjectives used appropriately because the speaker feels that the idea referred to be essentially frivolous, trivial, or unimportant to the world at large-only an amusement for the
speaker herself.
1.3.2.5 The use of precise color terms
Female make far more precise discriminations in naming colors than do male; words like beige, ecru, aquamarine, lavender, and so on are unremarkable in a female‟s active vocabulary,
but absent from that most of male. If a male use these words, one might well conclude he was Neutral
Females only Great
Adorable Terrific
Charming Cool
sweet Neat
Lovely
imitating a female sarcastically or was a home sexual or an interior decorator. People might ask why fine discrimination of color is relevant for females, but not for males. A clue is contained in
the why many males in our society view other “unworldly” topics, like high culture, as the outside the world of male‟s work, relegated to female and male whose masculinity is not
questionable. Males tend to relegate to females are not expected to make decisions on important matters, such as what kind of job to hold, they are relegated the non-crucial decisions as a sop.
Deciding whether to name a color lavender or mauve is one such sop. Example: 53 magenta, aquamarine.
1.3.2.6 The use of intensive adverbs, like „so‟ and „just‟
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