Jesperson 1920s

• what is this theory

  mens language is the ‘norm’ that provides the standard. women’s language falls short of this standard
• findings

  women talk a lot.

  women use adjectives such as ‘pretty’ and ‘nice’ too much.

  women have smaller vocabulary than men.

  women are less hesitant than men when speaking.

  noveks written by ladies are much easier to read and use fewer difficult words.
• critisms of jesperson approach

  didn’t conduct any studies.

  based his work largely on fiction.

  quoted others who didn’t do any studies.