No. 83 (2020): Southern Archive (philological sciences)
Romanic, Germanic and Oriental languages

GENDER ASPECTS OF VOICE PERCEPTION VERBALIZATION IN THE ENGLISH BELLES-LETTRES DISCOURSE: PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

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  • Angelina Ivanivna Demchuk
Angelina Ivanivna Demchuk
South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32999/ksu2663-2691/2020-83-7

Published 2020-11-04

Keywords

  • gender differences, lexical units, prosodic characteristics, comparative analysis
  • гендерні розбіжності, лексична одиниця, просодична характеристика, компаративний аналіз

Abstract

Purpose. This study is devoted to the gender differences in voice perception and their reflection in the English belles-lettres discourse. The purpose of the study is to make a comparative analysis of voice prosodic characteristics and their verbalization means in female and male authors’ and to study how gender differences (if any) in voice perception are reflected in the English belles-lettres discourse.

Methods. On the basis of our previous research of voice prosodic parameters verbalization in the modern English language the lexical units nominating voice prosodic characteristics (melody, loudness, voice quality, tempo) and their combinations were singled out in female and male belles-lettres discourses. Qualitative and linguistic analyses highlight the main peculiarities of female and male author’s voice perception verbalization in the novels “Bridget Jones’ diary” by H. Fielding and “Never let me go” by K. Ishiguro.

Results. The results of the study show that in the male belles-lettres discourse the most significant verbalized voice prosodic characteristics are loudness and combinations of melody and loudness, to be more precise, of low pitch and decreased loudness. Thus, the prosodic characteristic of loudness goes first in the reflection of the voice perception in the male discourse. In the female belles-lettres discourse verbalized voice quality and combinations of two and three prosodic characteristics proved to play a leading role. Verbalized combinations of high pitch and increased loudness as well as of slurred voice quality and decreased loudness appear to be pivotal in the female author. This fact sustains the idea that the female writer favours a more detailed description of the voice prosodic characteristics meanwhile the male author tends to a general reflection of voice perception, foregrounding one prosodic parameter of loudness.

Conclusions. These results allow to conclude about female higher accuracy in voice perception and its verbalization. Melody and tempo seem to be the least important in voice perception and its reflection for both female and male authors.

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