Women’s social status through Women’s language features in Anne Hathaway’s speeches

Rizki, Sovi Nur Asofia (2023) Women’s social status through Women’s language features in Anne Hathaway’s speeches. Sarjana thesis, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung.

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Abstract

Language is a crucial communication tool and is often influenced by an individual's social position, including education, occupation, and socioeconomic background. Women with higher education and higher-status employment have a more formal and complex linguistic style, which is influenced by their education and professional experience. Language use is heavily influenced by social position, with individuals using various vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation patterns to gain social advantages or demonstrate identity. By using qualitative research design and employing Lakoff’s (1973) theory of women’s language features, this study found that as a woman with high socioeconomic background, Anne Hathaway used seven out of ten features of women’s language in her three speeches; Paid Family Leave (2017), Authentic Equality (2018), and Hollywood Walk of Fame (2019). With the total of 149 utterances, the features included in her speeches are hypercorrect grammar with the total of 52 utterances, followed by super polite form with 29 utterances, empty adjective with 20 utterances, lexical hedges and/or fillers with 18 utterances, emphatic stress with 16 utterances, intensifiers with 13 utterances, and avoidance of strong-swear words with only one utterance. The features that do not appear in Anne’s speeches are precise colour terms, tag question, and rising intonation. Additionally, by using Bourdieu’s (1991) theory of language and symbolic power, it can be seen that Anne's social status is reflected in her use of standard English and a wide vocabulary range, showcasing her high social background. The use of standard English form in 52 of her utterances and wide vocabulary range in 20 utterances help her project authority, intelligence, and expertise, while also convey eloquence and familiarity with elite language and culture.

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