International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Language and Gender in Describing Physical Appearance
Fatima Al Qaisiya

Abstract
This study aims to examine the gender differences in the language used for describing the physical appearance of people from the two genders. Thus, the language used for describing the physical appearance of twenty university students, from different genders, is analyzed. The data are collected by means of questionnaires answered by the participants. The study found that the language of describing the physical appearance was affected by the genders and the features to be described. Empty adjectives were found to be a characteristic of the descriptive language for both genders in the description of certain features such as height.

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