“Male” and “Female” As a Fuzzy Set in Gender Opposition (Through Intonation Patterns)

Abstract

The paper considers two polar members of gender opposition, social and linguistic phenomena, as a fuzzy set revealing fuzzy, overlapping areas while distinguishing between feminine and masculine properties as regards to male and female intonation patterns in acted speech. As a social construct, gender is reflected in gender stereotypes—certain signs of group identity that can be realized through intonation patterns. These patterns possess certain distinctive features forming male/female category memberships. The research reveals that some prosodic parameters in acted speech are not gender-specific, thus making up overlapping areas in male/female speech. The claim is that the fuzzy set approach to the study of gender opposition questions the binary cut of the object under study and gives rise to the thought that in acted speech prosody this opposition is not clearly cut.