英语谚语中的性别歧视研究

摘要语言与性别研究一直是语言学家关注的重要课题，国内外诸多的语言学家都对语言中性别歧视这一现象进行了深入研究。

语言是现实社会的一面镜子，能够真实地反映这种社会习俗及价值观念，而作为语言中的精华——谚语更是浓缩了文化的内涵。

本文以女权主义为视角，侧重于对性别歧视在英语谚语中的现象进行研究。

本文首先结合国内外学者对语言中性别歧视这一现象的研究，并结合这些研究探讨英语谚语中性别歧视现象，指出谚语与性别歧视的含义与特点；再从性格、言行、才智、婚嫁、地位等五个方面指出性别歧视在英语谚语中的具体表现；然后从历史、社会、文化三个不同的角度分析了性别歧视在英语谚语中形成的根源，通过对谚语的分析揭示语言中对女性的歧视，从而提高人们关于性别歧视的意识，帮助人们减少，继而消除在日常生活以及语言中的性别歧视现象；最后指出性别歧视在英语谚语中的发展趋势。

关键词：英语谚语；性别歧视；表现；根源；发展趋势ABSTRACTThe language research in relation to gender has remained on the important topic in linguistics. Lots of linguists who show interest in this field have done many deep and profound researches. Language, a mirror of the real world, could give us a reflection of social customs and values. And the proverbs, the essence of language, are actually a concentration of culture. The thesis aims at specializing in sex discrimination reflected in the English proverbs from the feminist perspective.Combined with some researches on sexism in English proverbs by scholars home and abroad, the thesis firstly points out the meanings and features of proverbs and sexism. And then the thesis explains the manifestations of sexism through a study of the proverbs applied in English from five aspects: character, words and deeds, ability and wisdom, marriage and social status. Then the thesis has also investigated into the causes of sexism from three aspects: history, culture, society. Through the research on English proverbs, the thesis tries to reveal the sex bias against women in language, and find out solutions to help people reduce and eliminate the sexism in the daily expressions. Finally, the thesis points out the development trend of sexism in English proverbs. Keywords：English proverbs; sexism; manifestation; causes; development trendContents1. Introduction (1)2. Definitions of proverb and sexism (4)2.1 Definition of proverb (4)2.1.1 Meaning of proverb (4)2.1.2 Features of proverb (4)2.2 Definition of sexism (6)2.2.1 Meaning of sexism (6)2.2.2 Features of sexism (6)3. Manifestations of sexism in English proverbs (7)3.1 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about character (7)3.2 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about words and deeds (8)3.3 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about ability and wisdom (8)3.4 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about marriage (9)3.5 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about social status (10)4. Causes of sexism in the English proverbs (11)4.1 Historical reasons (11)4.2 Cultural origin (11)4.3 Social factors (12)5. Development trend of sexism in the English proverbs (14)6. Conclusion (15)Acknowledgements (16)References (17)1. IntroductionAmerican linguist Edward Spair once said: “Language is a guide to social reality.”[1]. Language, a mirror of the society, loyally reflects not only a nation’s history and culture, but also beliefs and biases. Language and gender is a popular issue in the area of sociolinguistics. Sex discrimination exists in English speaking communities. Therefore, we can find sexism here and there in English.Denmark linguist O.JesPersen is the first one to study sexism from the angle of linguistics. In 1923, his book named Development and Structure of English had ever pointed out that English was the most masculine language all over the world. In 1960, as an interdisciplinary subject of linguistics and sociology, sociolinguistics formed and developed fast in USA. The d evelopment of West Women’s Libe ration and Feminism studies as well as development of sociolinguistics promoted sexist language studies to a certain extent. Some scholars thought that a kind of new linguistics about equality between men and women appeared. The linguists, Lakoff, Trudgi, KZimmerman, West, Thonle, Henle and Bolinger taken as representatives in the period between 70s and 80s, did further studies on sexism and discussed the causes of sexism in language. In his article Language and Women’s Place, Lakoff pointed out that in the world expressed by the language, the male was in the center and the female’s image was incomplete [2]. Bolinger, in his book, said that this was a phenomenon of sexism in language. Some other scholars such as Lakoff, tried to use all scientific knowledge to describe linguistics.D.Bolinger, published his books Aspects of Language in 1965 and Language: the Loaded Weapon in 1980, which provided some points for the study of sexism [3]. In 1973, koff, published his book Language and Women’s Place, which elaborated on women’ social place and sexism in language. From the end of 80s to 90s, linguists such as J.Holmes, J.Coates, D.Cameron, M.R.Key, did further studies on differences of sexist language. Their studies emphasized the forms of men and women’s terms.In our country, the study on sexist language is very late, which began from the end of 70s or the beginning of 80s. With the development of Feminist movement, Chinese scholars gradually switch their study to that of sexism. A lot of articles are published on various periodicals, such as Wang Wenchang’s Chairman or Chairperson―American Women's Movement and Reform of Language. These scholars are the first ones to discuss the influences of sexism on language, especially on English from theperspective of Western Feminist movement. In other words, they begin the study on differences of sexist language. Up to the end of 80s, compared with those studies of sexism in language in the western countries, Chinese scholars pay their attention to differences of sex. They observe and study differences of men and women’s term from the angle of intonation, tone and lexicon. Sun Rujian published his book Sex and Language[4] and Bai Jiehong published Sexist Language and Linguistics, which elaborated on the study on sexist language from the angle of social psychology and pragmatics [5]. Qin Xiubai discussed sexist language from the angle of history, society and culture, and provided a new angle of studying sexist language for us in her article published on Modern Foreign Languages [6]. Kong Qingcheng objectively analyzed a phenomenon of sexism existing both in English and Chinese in his article [7]. Zhuang Hecheng, a very famous linguist who published Sexism in English Lexicon, discussed sexism in English from the aspect of lexicon [8]. Chen Lin published her article Sexism in English Advertisement to put sexism into a different aspect to study its character. The field of these researches is broader than before, which makes other linguists grasp the relationship between language and sexism more accurately [9].The proverb, a special form of language, is a kind of idiom. It is very popular among the people, and contains very deep implication in sentences. It is also a kind of folk literature. The proverb is human being’s crystal of wisdom, and embodiment of concise language. The proverb is alwa ys iconically compared to “clea r mirror of a nation”and “living fossil of language” by linguists. Among the researches of sexism in English proverbs, linguists mostly study the definition of sexism and proverb, sexism reflected in proverbs, its origin and tendency. In 2000, Xu Zhixng, Li Lifang and Li Liming wrote an essay Sexism in English Proverbs. They said that people put women at a very low position, and linked them with some bad habits [10]. For instance, they thought women were very stupid and loved to gossip. In their essay, they also talked about tendency of sexism in English language. Then A Probe into the Causes of Sexism in English Proverbs was written by Yang Qing, Yu Xiangyue in 2003. They put a lot of emphasis on the causes of sexism. Their paper probed into the causes of sexism from the three aspects: historical reasons, cultural origin and social factors. It was thought that the phenomenon indirectly reflected women’s social status in different periods of social development and had close relations with women’s status and its changes [11]. In 2005, Zhang Lin, Liu Wanqiu published an article Sex Discrimination in English Proverbs, which analyzed the phenomenon of sex discrimination in English proverbs in the five aspects of character, words and deeds, ability and wisdom, marriageand social status; it also discussed the root of the phenomenon from the angle of social linguistics [12]. Rong Nannan, a postgraduate of Heilongjiang University, wrote a thesis for the Degree of Master of Arts entitled Sexism in Chinese and English Proverbs in 2007. The thesis aimed at specializing in sex discrimination reflected in both English and Chinese proverbs from the feminist perspective. The thesis probed into the phenomenon through a comparative study of the proverbs applied in both languages from different aspects [13].This essay from one aspect—English proverbs analyzes sexism and finds out its origin. However, in this aspect, the researches made by scholars home and abroad are not very rich and profound. Therefore, this thesis aims at studying sexism in English proverbs, and understanding the values and philosophy of life of people from English-speaking countries, which is helpful for making English communications successfully.2. Definitions of proverb and sexismThe proverb, a special form of language, is a kind of idiom. The proverb is very popular among the people, and contains very deep implication in sentences. It is always iconically compared to “clea r mirror of a nation”and “living fossil of language” by linguists. “Sexism”, derived from the word “racism”,is created by American feminists. Sexism is the phenomenon resulted from physiological sex.2.1 Definition of proverb2.1.1 Meaning of proverbA proverb (from the Latin proverbium), also called a byword or nayword, is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. A proverb is a kind of folk literature. It is human being’s crystal of wisdom, and embodiment of concise language. Proverbs, as one of the varieties of English language, reflect its social customs and cultural connotations. British writer William Penn once said: “The wisdom of nation lies in their proverbs.”[12] And some people thought that proverbs were daughter of daily experiences. The proverbs are the product of cultural concepts and a mini social encyclopedia. People put a high value on proverbs, which have become an encyclopedia for people to recognize life, seek opinion of the world, and strengthen people’s will. It reflects culture, life, custom and mode of thinking. As a product in some special cultures, the proverbs, this ancient way of language manifestation, are bound to present a nation’s social life.2.1.2 Features of proverbLongman Modern English Dictionary gives a definition of “proverb” that a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory. So we can see the features of proverbs as followed.(1) Originating from and circulating in non-governmental circles.The proverb is a form of folk literature, and folk literature is a kind of literature created and passed on by oral form, and continuously revised by the collective. Most of the proverbs in English are created by the majority of laboring people, but not by the minority of writers in literary, also not by the ranking officials and noblemen in luxurious saloons and theatres. As we know, lots of peasants on farms, workers in factories, hunters in woods, sailors on the sea, cooks in kitchens and housewives, etc get proverbs from manufacture and labor. In order to sum up these experiences and introduce them to descendants, they make those experiences and lesson s from their lives and fights against nature into another kind of language using words not of imposing stature but strong, capable and easy to remember. This kind of language after long time’s thinking becomes proverbs at last. The contents of proverbs are very plentiful and range over lots of aspects, particularly contain profound moral.(2) Abundant in content, profound with meanings, full of philosophy, providing much food for thought.English proverbs mostly express moral outlook of people, display noble moral character, and inspire people. They also become good teachers and helpful friends of people, and many people take them as their guide to action. English proverbs not only contain abundant contents, but also have their profound connotations and philosophic meanings. People who read them will get the upper brunt of soul, and receive endless experiences and edification.(3) Concise language, vivid image,easy to read.Language of English proverbs is highly condensed and concise. Only a few words can contain much plentiful content, explaining a deep principle, which make people think deeply, provide food for their thoughts, and realize many profound ideas. Due to their origination from laboring people, the language of English proverbs which has few uncommon words is very easy to understand and easy to grasp. Because the proverbs are imparted by the oral words, they are easier to spread and remember.(4) Harmonious metre, easy to speak.The reasons why the English proverbs can spread so widely, accepting their abundant content, with concise language and rich philosophy, etc, has a very important element—harmonious metre. English usually use alliteration, rhyme, or alliteration plus rhyme to increase beautiful phonetic rhyme.2.2 Definition of sexism2.2.1 Meaning of sexismAccording to Webster Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, sexism is “prejudice or discrimination based on sex; esp. discrimination against women”.While in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, sexism is defined as “unfair or unreasonable discrimination between the sexes; unreasonable maintaining of traditional sexual rules (e.g. that men are strong and women are weak)”.Therefore, sexism is a system of beliefs and practices that affirm the dominance of men over women. Apprehended by most people as “only natural”sexism pervades social relations and institutions, affecting everything from people’s domestic arrangement to their career choices. With the arrival of the feminist movement within English speaking countries, attention has been given to changing the structures which support and promote sexism within the society. One of these structures is language. Sexism in language is the phenomenon that when you use the language, it shows discrimination against women. Sexist language has been defined as “words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between females and males or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either gender”. [14]2.2.2 Features of sexismSexism is a kind of discrimination, especially, against women. Thus linguistic sexism refers to the language that favors one sex, especially, the male, and diminishes the other sex, particularly the female.Sexism registers as sexist language in English. Sexist language as many people pointed out not only encodes stereotyped attitudes to women and men, but also is an example of the way that a culture or society conveys its value from one group to another and from one generation to the next. Some linguists in their essay offer examples of sexism in language and the ways in which the English language reflects a sexist culture. According to them, sexist language is any language that expresses “stereotyped attitudes and expectations or that assumes the inherent superiority of one sex over the other. Sexist language includes words, phrases, and expressions that unnecessarily differentiate between women and men or exclude, trivialize, or diminish either gender.”[14]3. Manifestations of sexism in English proverbs3.1 Manifestations of sexism in the proverbs about character(1) WeaknessWoman is made to weep. (女子生性好哭。