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genderlect

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A variety of speech or conversational style used by a particular gender.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A dialect associated with a particular gender.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[gender + (dia)lect.]

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  • MaryW commented on the word genderlect

    As a sociolinguist, I study the science of language in its social context. I began my lecture by describing the different ways that linguists subcategorize languages. Dialects, which most people are familiar with, are regional varieties of a language, like Texan or Midwestern English. But there are also ethnolects, associated with specific ethnic groups, like Chicano and Jewish English, and genderlects which refer to the distinctive ways that women and men talk.

    An idiolect is not the language of idiots, but an idiosyncratic form of language that is unique to an individual. No two individuals—not even family members living under the same roof—speak the exact same language. We all pronounce words slightly differently, have different inflections in our voices, and choose different words to refer to the same thing.

    Jennifer Sclafani, The Idolect of Donald Trump, Scientific American Mind blog, March 16, 2016

    October 10, 2016