摘 要

自20世纪70年代以来，语言中的性别差异一直广受学界关注，学者们从不同视角对语言中的性别差异进行了探讨，对产生差异的原出了深入的研究。本文以美剧《绯闻女孩》为研究对象，从合作原则的角度对两性之间的对话进行了语用分析。重点关注绯闻女孩中男女性的对话，从合作原则的角度分析剧中主人公是如何破坏或遵守相应的准则以达到交际的目的，从而探讨男性与女性在交际中所表现出的性别差异，最后，从社会文化、男女性价值观等方面探究产生差异的原因。本研究能够帮助会话者更好地理解男女会话中的性别差异，避免产生误会，从而为跨性别交际提供帮助。

关键词：性别差异; 合作原则; 绯闻女孩

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 2

2.1Framework of Cooperation Principle 2

2.2 Introduction of Gossip Girl 3

2.3. Gender Differences in Observing or Violating the CP in Gossip Girl 4

2.3.1 Gender Differences in Observing or Violating the Maxim of Quantity 4

2.3.2 Gender Differences in Observing or Violating the Maxim of Quality 6

2.3.3 Gender Differences in Observing or Violating the Maxim of Relevance 7

2.3.4 Gender Differences in Observing or Violating the Maxim of Manner 8

3. Reasons that lead to Gender Differences in Language Use in Gossip Girl 10

3.1 Physiological factors 10

3.2 Psychological factors 10

3.3 Social factors 11

4. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 12

Bibliography 13

A Study on the Gender Differences in Cross-Sex Conversations in Gossip Girl from the Perspective of Cooperative Principle

1. Introduction

The claim that there are differences between genders is hardly a matter of dispute. From childhood, males and females show differences in many ways, both physiologically and psychologically. The study of gender language now is an important part of linguistics, and the results of many researches show that gender factors influence people's linguistic behavior. O.Jespersen is the first scholar who studied the relationship between language and gender from the perspective of linguistics. In his work Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin (1922), he explained the features of women’s language and pointed out differences in vocabulary and syntax between male and female. With the development of women’s liberation movement, linguistics focus more and more on the issue of gender difference and begin to pay more attention to women’s language(Shi 39). Robin Lakoff is the most important one. In his work Language and Women’s language (1975), he studies the communicative gender differences not only on lexical and phonological levels, but also on the forms and roles in cross gender communication. At the same time, there is a new change in the study of Linguistics. Linguists no longer see gender as an identity of every individual, but take it as something related to what people are engaged in. From the late 1980s to 1990s, most of the linguists made a deeper systematic research of gender language. For example, Janet Holmes (1995) who has done a lot on language and gender, concerning politeness from sociolinguistic, philosophical, psycholinguistic frameworks. So many scholars concentrated their time and energy on the different speaking styles of both sex and on different social roles. Until now, there are a large number of empirical hypotheses and conclusions, only a small number of researchers showed interest in how the gender differences influence the choice of communicative strategies in daily mixed-gender conversations. Few of them focus on gender differences in cross-sex conversations from the perspective of Cooperative Principle. Under this circumstance, this thesis will analyze the differences of males and females in cross-gender conversation in from the perspective of Cooperative Principle.

The thesis will take conversations in Gossip Girl on the language materials and analyze the differences in cross-gender conversations, which aims to show how males and females differ in observing and violating Grice’s Cooperative Principle,

2. Demonstration

2.1Framework of Cooperation Principle

In many circumstances, males and females fail to carry on conversations, mostly because they violate the cooperation principle. The American linguistic philosopher H. Paul Grice proposes and formulates the Cooperative Principle (CP) in order to guide and regulate the conduct of conversations. In Grice’s view, conversations do not normally consist of a series of disconnected remarks which are characteristically, to some degree, cooperative efforts; and each participant recognizes in them, to some extent, a common purpose or a set of purposes, or at least a mutually accepted direction. That is to say, when the participants cooperate with each other, the conversation can proceed smoothly and successfully. In Grice’s words, “Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged” (Grice 47). Jeffries and McIntyre describe them as "encapsulating the assumptions that we prototypically hold when we engage in conversation".  (Jeffries 106)

The Basic Theory of CP

A. The maxim of quantity