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Language, power, and cross-sex communication strategies in Hindi and Indian English revisited1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Rajendra Singh
Affiliation:
Department de Linguistique, Université de Montréal
Jayant K. Lele
Affiliation:
Department of Politcal Studies, Queen's University

Abstract

A critical examination of the findings of Valentine (1985, 1986), studies devoted to cross-sex communication in Hindi and Indian English, is shown to reveal that the assumptions of the models on which such descriptions are based are not only nonexplanatory but also untenable. They fail because they ignore hierarchical power. Their failure “abroad” must be seen as an invitation to reflect on their alleged success back home. (Discourse, discourse strategies, cross-sex communication, Hindi, Indian English, English, sociolinguistics)

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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