Language and Gender: Sexism in Kurdish Language (Mukriani Dialect)

Öz

Language is a social phenomenon and reflects the existing beliefs in a community. It is possible to discover the institutionalized beliefs, orientations and ideologies through study of language even in case of male and female relationships. This research attempts to discuss the sexism or non-sexism of "Mukriani Kurdish" through compilation of male and female adjectives as well as terms of address. To this end, a number of widely used idioms, proverbs and terminologies were analyzed from among 7000 words in two books of (Hedi, 1999) and (Fatahi Ghazi,1986). The results showed that Mukriani Kurdish is sexist and application of sexist language among individuals depends to a great extent on their gender, age, occupation, qualification and social class. Moreover, failure of educated individuals to use such language may be due to their lack of familiarity with linguistic terms as a result of studying in a language other than native language. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sexist language,Sexism,Mukriani Kurdish,Patriarchy,Dominance,Feudality

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