汉语和英语中的性别歧视the_sexism_phenomenon_in_chinese_and_english_language..doc

The Sexism Phenomenon in English and Chinese Language Abstract: In the long history of language development of English and Chinese, there have occurred certain language phenomenons especially embodied in vocabulary, expression, proverbs, etc. which are discriminated against women – Sexist Language. The paper intends to make a tentative discussion on the phenomenon of Sexist Language in both English and Chinese by introducing its causes and certain features. Key words: English and Chinese; sexism; phenomena; causes and features. 摘要：在汉语和英语的发展，演变的历史进程中，出现了较多对女性性别歧视的现象，这些现象在字词，表达和一些俗语谚语中表现尤为突出。本文旨在归纳和总结这些语言性别歧视现象，并简要探讨现象背后的原因及其特征。 关键字：汉语，英语，性别歧视，原因，特征 I. Introduction Language, as the important tool of human communication and thoughts interflow, reflects the minds, attitudes and cultural backgrounds of the language-creator and user. In the late period of 18th Century, academicians began to study and discuss the formation of language. Language is formed in course of the production power and social activity of human beings, offering service to the public, which was the reason why we say language is the reflection of the actual condition of the whole society and as a result, was limited by human’s living style, thinking forms, manner and behavior, morality value, politic value and cultural backgrounds. We have to confess that language, as a tool of social relationship, is limited by the space and time. In order to improve the communication, human being created symbol system -- words and characters, which is able to record and transfer thoughts, concepts and information in the visual form. The creation of words and characters is also tightly related to human thoughts. In human society, the male stands in the leading status. The male is regarded much stronger and more powerful than the female. The physical differences between male and female decide the difference of their different roles in the society. The leading status of male and the affiliation status of female l