Essays

Zrinka Breglec orcid.org/0000-0003-1761-5872 ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska

Abstract

This work is a short depiction of the representation of a woman in the Croatian language. In the first part, we determine the linguistic level on which sexism and/ or discrimination based on sexual and gender affiliation can even be discussed. The boundaries between the levels on which discrimination can be discussed are clearly defined. They cannot be discussed on the grammatical level because language is an enclosed system that functions according to specific rules, and nominal gender is a grammatical category that is reflected on words adjoined to nouns. However, language can be discriminatory and sexist on the level of the lexis, fixed phrases and collocations, or more precisely, on the level of their usage. That topic is problematized in the second part, where examples from the lexical inventory of the Croatian language are listed, examples of fixed phrases, collocations and finally, a review of the lexicographical practice that does not need to, but can be indicative of the understanding of females in the real social context.

Keywords

language; gender; sex; grammar; lexis; sexism; discrimination

Hrčak ID:

138594

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/138594

Publication date:

31.3.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian

Visits: 8.502 *