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How do females speak?

Started by Tori, April 06, 2012, 02:11:07 AM

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Tori

In order to graduate, I must teach a dialect to a class.

I wish to teach the female dialect.

Thoughts? We have covered many regional dialects.

This dialect is different.


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AbraCadabra

Female dialect? Eh?

Women tend to let there emotion come through when they say something, anything - unless they try hard not to - wanting to sound more authoritative like most males would, given certain situations.

If you female it sort of comes automatically, that "dialect" as you seem to call it...

Axélle
Some say: "Free sex ruins everything..."
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tekla

I can't think of anyplace where men and women speak in different dialects.  The word choice varies a lot, but the actual intonation of how one would say "peas", "hopper", or "I parked my car in Harvard yard" is the same regardless of gender.
FIGHT APATHY!, or don't...
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Beverley

OK - my tips are as follows:

Speak more clearly opening your mouth more. Men tend to mumble.

Don't use contractions

Men tend to start with a bang - "OK everyone - listen up" women tend to approach it more gradually "Can I have everyone's attention please"

Men issue orders, women use requests (see previous example)

Pay particular attention to the sounds for S and T. They are very different from males to females

Do not be "cool". "Yo man!" should be replaced by "Excuse me". Generally avoid colourful four-letter anglo-saxon words like sh*t, f**k, etc, etc. Whilst some woment do use them, most do not and they are considered very coarse when women use them.

As Axelle says, express emotion. "How are you today?" - male answer "OK", female answer "I feel good today"

That lot should get things moving in the right direction.


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Asfsd4214

Quote from: Beverley on April 06, 2012, 09:24:21 AM
OK - my tips are as follows:

Speak more clearly opening your mouth more. Men tend to mumble.

Don't use contractions

Men tend to start with a bang - "OK everyone - listen up" women tend to approach it more gradually "Can I have everyone's attention please"

Men issue orders, women use requests (see previous example)

Pay particular attention to the sounds for S and T. They are very different from males to females

Do not be "cool". "Yo man!" should be replaced by "Excuse me". Generally avoid colourful four-letter anglo-saxon words like sh*t, f**k, etc, etc. Whilst some woment do use them, most do not and they are considered very coarse when women use them.

As Axelle says, express emotion. "How are you today?" - male answer "OK", female answer "I feel good today"

That lot should get things moving in the right direction.

Sounds more like the difference to how young women speak and old women.
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tekla

Speak more clearly opening your mouth more. Men tend to mumble.
Don't use contractions
Men tend to start with a bang - "OK everyone - listen up" women tend to approach it more gradually "Can I have everyone's attention please"
Men issue orders, women use requests (see previous example)
Pay particular attention to the sounds for S and T. They are very different from males to females
Do not be "cool". "Yo man!" should be replaced by "Excuse me". Generally avoid colourful four-letter anglo-saxon words like sh*t, f**k, etc, etc. Whilst some woment do use them, most do not and they are considered very coarse when women use them.
As Axelle says, express emotion. "How are you today?" - male answer "OK", female answer "I feel good today"


Even if that is all true, (and it's not, my female bosses issue orders just like my male bosses do, the American Southern dialect is full of contractions used by both male and females, starting with Y'all) it has nothing to do with dialect unless you are using that word for something far different than it's common linguistic use - which is about pronunciation patterns and speeds.  So someone from New York will use far more words per minute in casual conversation than someone from Alabama, Mexican Spanish is much - mucho - faster than Continental Spanish.  There are regional word choices - is that a 'pop', 'soda', coke (used as a generic for all soft drinks in some areas), do you put your groceries in a 'bag', 'sack' or a 'poke' - but I'm not even sure that is true dialect, it's much more about how the words would be pronounced rather than the choice of word itself.
FIGHT APATHY!, or don't...
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Rabbit

Quote from: Asfsd4214 on April 06, 2012, 09:28:54 AM
Sounds more like the difference to how young women speak and old women.

Yea... might be a generational thing...

But...

Don't use curse words? hehehe, umm... women use these quite a lot...... lol
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Beverley

It is a set of generalisations, there will always be exceptions. There are no hard and fast rules that cover every culture the world over.

- in general men curse and swear more than women.

- in general men mumble more than women.

and so on...

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Rabbit

You just gotta be careful of falling into the trap of trying to live up to ideals of what you think women should be. (like with everything we do as we learn how women act).

Not trying to jump on you or anything Beverley :) Just something to be careful of.

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Beverley

Quote from: Rabbit on April 06, 2012, 10:25:04 AM
Not trying to jump on you or anything Beverley :) Just something to be careful of.

That is OK Rabbit - they are merely the guidelines I use (not hard and fast rules) and I know I pass in conversation. I have had too many conversations with strangers for their actions to be 'kindness' or 'chance'.

I would not call my vocalisation 100% female, but it is close enough for most people to accept it and that is all that matters to me.

Hugs

B.
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Ashley_C

Women enunciate more then men. They also put more stress on the end of sentences.

You should to a coffee shop or something and try to listen to girls talking and focus on how they talk and not what they say. It'll help both for your class and your transition.
We must move forward... not backwards, not to the side, not forwards, but always whirling, whirling, whirling towards freedom.

My mindless babbling are my own opinions and nothing more.
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JenJen2011

I don't think sounding female has anything to do with what vocabulary is used.
"You have one life to live so live it right"
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Michelle G

Quote from: JenJen2011 on April 06, 2012, 03:22:15 PM
I don't think sounding female has anything to do with what vocabulary is used.

no kidding! my my wife who is very much a Nordic beauty can swear like a sailer and gets confused for a male sometimes when she is on a phone call with strangers with her sorta "kathleen turner" type deeper voice
Just a "California Girl" trying to enjoy each sunny day
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Tori

Quote from: JenJen2011 on April 06, 2012, 03:22:15 PM
I don't think sounding female has anything to do with what vocabulary is used.

I see where you are coming from.

In this case however, I respectfully disagree.

Dialects are about how a person says things with their voice and their word choice.

If you were to use a Russian dialect, you could certainly speak everything like a Russian, but if you also dropped words like "A" and "The" you would be even more convincing.

"Excuse me, I am looking for a moose and a squirrel."

Or

"Where is moose and squirrel?"

Which reads more Russian?

Of course, this is not universal. It is not black and white. It is a generalization.

In general, woman speak in a more melodic tone than men. In general, they speak in a higher pitch... etc.


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tekla

I did some reading and did manage to find one rather isolated place in the world that linguists have found where the men and women actually speak in different dialects, rather interesting.  Though having one exception tends to prove rules rather than undermine them.
FIGHT APATHY!, or don't...
  •  

Jamie D

Quote from: tekla on April 06, 2012, 09:12:24 AM
I can't think of anyplace where men and women speak in different dialects.  The word choice varies a lot, but the actual intonation of how one would say "peas", "hopper", or "I parked my car in Harvard yard" is the same regardless of gender.

When were you last in the San Fernando Valley?
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Keaira

Quote from: Beverley on April 06, 2012, 09:24:21 AM
OK - my tips are as follows:

Speak more clearly opening your mouth more. Men tend to mumble.

Don't use contractions

Men tend to start with a bang - "OK everyone - listen up" women tend to approach it more gradually "Can I have everyone's attention please"

Men issue orders, women use requests (see previous example)

Pay particular attention to the sounds for S and T. They are very different from males to females

Do not be "cool". "Yo man!" should be replaced by "Excuse me". Generally avoid colourful four-letter anglo-saxon words like sh*t, f**k, etc, etc. Whilst some woment do use them, most do not and they are considered very coarse when women use them.

As Axelle says, express emotion. "How are you today?" - male answer "OK", female answer "I feel good today"

That lot should get things moving in the right direction.

I don't know. Most of the women I work with at Valeo sound like men according to this. And I know the other female tech I work with even walks like a guy. o.O I am definitely living in the wrong place to people watch. lol
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Cindy

I think the op was meaning speech patterns rather than dialects, even though dialect was the noun used. There are interesting sections in Wiki on difference s in male -female vocal patterns. Interesting comment from Tekla in that there is at least one difference in male/female dialects. From memory in the UK, which used to have very distinct regional dialects and even language, there were male and female words that would not be used by the opposite gender. This was true in Scouse and I think in Geordie.
Exposure to TV has had an enormous effect on language and I would not be surprised if the English speaking world have Hollywoodism as the basic language.
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Tori

Quote from: tekla on April 07, 2012, 02:03:29 AM
I did some reading and did manage to find one rather isolated place in the world that linguists have found where the men and women actually speak in different dialects, rather interesting.  Though having one exception tends to prove rules rather than undermine them.

In America's deep South, men tend to talk from their throats and women speak in a nasal tone. They still pronounce words basically the same though.

Where is this place you refer to?


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Tori

Quote from: Cindy James on April 07, 2012, 02:21:10 AM
I think the op was meaning speech patterns rather than dialects, even though dialect was the noun used. There are interesting sections in Wiki on difference s in male -female vocal patterns. Interesting comment from Tekla in that there is at least one difference in male/female dialects. From memory in the UK, which used to have very distinct regional dialects and even language, there were male and female words that would not be used by the opposite gender. This was true in Scouse and I think in Geordie.
Exposure to TV has had an enormous effect on language and I would not be surprised if the English speaking world have Hollywoodism as the basic language.

No, I am talking about dialects... not jut speech patterns... but I understand why you would think that. Women speak in London dialects, New York dialects, French... etc. So do men.  The word dialect is not perfect but I am trying to stretch the term for my class.

I am taking a dialect class (my Cockney rocks!) and our final project is to teach a dialect we have learned on our own, to the rest of the class.

Yes, I am using the term "dialect" loosely here... and I would need to have my project approved by the Professor (which may not happen... because by definition, a dialect is regional). But I am looking at ways to teach actors how to speak like a female. You may be surprised to learn how often actors are cast in another gender. Especially when an actor has to play several roles in a single play. Actors are often cast as animals and other bizarre things too.

So generalities are accepted by me.

Us actors start with a general dialect and them modify it based on our character's specific traits, education, social role... etc.


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