Diastratic Variation of Language and Gender in the Kuria Society

The term gender in linguistics can be defined in different ways as a socio-cultural construct; as biological and physiological difference; and as grammatical identification of words. This study adopts Chambers, Trudgill and Schilling’s perception of gender as social category:

80 The physiological distinction between females and males, with “gender” referring to the social and cultural elaboration of the sex differences - a process that restricts our social roles opportunities, and expectations. Since the process begins at birth, it could be argued that “gender” is the more appropriate term to use for the category than “sex” (2002, p.

423).

Gender is pertinent in distinguishing between the roles of males and females in the family, specifically on how the Kuria people value each group. Kuria is clearly a patriarchal society and males are accorded preferential treatment right from the family level. This leads the one gender (male) to be imposing and assume exclusive rights of decision making, thereby reducing females to passive positions where they are expected to be submissive to men’s authority (Wambura, 2016, p. 38). This deeply gendered discrimination is apparently reflected in the language use between males and females in relation to social and cultural issues affecting the society. As Newman et al.

(2008, p. 233) argue, “gender differences in language use reflect a complex combination of social goals.” More importantly, these social goals and gender distribution also affect individual personalities as could be reflected across language uses between men and women where men demonstrate possession of power against women who are reduced to mere objects in almost all faculties as argued by some of the respondents: This will be discussed in Section 7.5 in Chapter Seven of this study:

(Abhakari)Bhono tebharenge na haki hai, warengenghotomerwa ghekebhakuri tu egheka.

Kama chombo fulani tu cha kutumika. (Code-switching to Swahili language). (M2)

So they (women) did not have any right, they were used like home vessels (utensils).’ From Swahili ‘It was like the used tool.’

The assertion above was made by M2 in the domain of ‘how Kuria customs, norms and tradition contribute to the Kuria social development’. It is found in the data which was collected by the semi-structured interviews method. M2 showed how the Kuria norms, customs and traditions discriminate against females in Kuria and hamper their social development as compared to the male gender. Perceptions of male superiority and discrimination against women was not only articulated by male respondents but was also evident in women’s discussions as captured from a female consultant (F1) below;

Omanyere omoghaka ono angere tosomboraini hayo iigho omanyere mbe omoghaikoro tana sauti hai hano waya ghotara aghotebhia igha tatanora oghende hano ukuya uyi tenena shida nauwe. (F1)

81 You know, this man has refused; we have been discontented with each other but as you know a woman has no voice (power of decision); when you try to mention it (something), he says you just leave and go wherever you want, I don’t need you anymore.

The effect of gender discrimination among the Kuria people could be felt across social, economic and political spheres. Women are seldom involved in decision-making because they are ruled by men. One of my respondents explained to me that parents and mostly fathers do not allow their daughters to go to school. This lack of exposure to formal education hinders the social and political development of women not only at the family and group levels but also at the national level. Below is one of my respondents explaining how her husband treated their daughter:

Bhoono mbe hayotore igho nkorekerenatore. Kobhakuria tetona haki hai. Nkuyaore koghamba igha tegha omoona ono asome, omoghaka anga igha omoona wa ekeghaikoro hano aihikere nigha atetwe. (F1)

So now we are here just because we are living. We don’t have right in Kuria society. When you say, let us allow this child (a girl) to study, the man refuses by saying no, when a girl is mature she should be married.

In that case, Kuria women largely have no power, their ideas cannot be considered even at the family level however good and constructive they may be. They are often treated as mere objects in the society that are meant to be used by men and not as human beings who deserve respect and value. This explains the socio-cultural differences between men and women in the Kuria society.

These observations concur with Newman et al. (2008, p. 233).

Owing to the imbalanced social construct and exposure to formal schooling in the Kuria community, men tend to enjoy more freedom that helps them to be more confident and creative than women. This also leads to lack of self-esteem and confidence among women, thereby hindering their creativity. This view could not have been expressed better than in the work of Carli (1990):

Women generally have lower status than men, as is evidenced by the findings that stereotypical feminine traits are evaluated less favorably than masculine traits … and that women are considered to be less competent than men (p. 941).

Newman et al. (2008), in their investigation on gender differences in language, argue that the extent to which men and women use language is different due to the fact that “language is an inherently

82 social phenomenon and can provide insight into how men and women approach their social worlds”

(2008, p. 212). In this relation, the language of women in Kuria society is limted to polite expression used in seeking advice or other situations that reflect their inferiority status. Very rarely do they make recourse to forceful or commanding expressions (see Chapter Seven of this study).

This could sharply be contrasted with men’s language that is normally harsh and commanding or directive to women on what or what not to do. Based on available evidence, I also argue that this gender discrimination in the Kuria society has made women to be less talkative than men. (See Chapter Seven of this study.)

From the foregoing, we cannot avoid connecting language use and society values. Therefore, socio-cultural behaviour accordingly tends to shape a person’s way of speaking, or expressed somewhat differently, how one communicates often reflects his/her behaviour. On the other hand, in view of language as an individual identity, Chambers et al. posit that:

The term “identity” functions outside of linguistics to cover a variety of concepts; for our purposes, we will understand identity to mean the active negotiation of an individual’s relationship with larger social constructs, insofar as this negotiation is signaled through language and other semiotic means (2002, p. 475).

De Saussure (1916, p. 8) as cited in Chambers and Schilling, espouses the view that: “Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other” (2013, pp.

6-7). I agree with de Saussure’s assertion and hold the view that individual difference can influence someone’s self-perception, regardless of social stratification of the larger society. But sometimes the social factors tend to overlap with what someone used to be. As established by this study, language is innate even though it can also be influenced by human nurture, i.e. social experience and day-to-day life. The kind of environment that shapes a person’s experiences tends to overlap to some extent with their innert creativity and this makes one exhibit other kinds of habits external to their inner self. The main issue here is the context of culture. This means that not all women in the Kuria society can speak or express themselves like men, because of the nurture (the social experiences) that they were exposed to in the course of their life. From the foregoing discussion it is apparent that gender discrimination may have led to an inferiority complex among females in the Kuria society.

83 3.4 Conclusion

This chapter has presented some sociocultural information on the Kuria language and society by showing the origin and the history of migration of Abakuria and their cultural context. As further argued in this chapter, the Kuria society traces its origin to different sources and its culture is an amalgamation of varied features from the agricultural and nomadic societies, thus making its societal structure and its language unique in various aspects. Therefore, language is related to culture and culture in turn reflects the society. By the same token, the way language is used also reflects societal trends and norms. The discussion above shows that to some extent, social cultural construct affects language use in the Kuria society. The society tends to discriminate against the female, hence creating inferiority complex in them which has an impact on the way they use language. In short, language and society are inseparable entities. Language is foundational to every society and one cannot imagine a society without language, an indispensable aspect of culture.

(See Chapter Seven of this study.)

The chapter gives insight into how gender definitions, perceptions and functions affect language use in Kuria society. I will connect this issue with the ongoing study on verb extensions. This is based on the premise that verb extensions, as morphemes which combine with other morphemes to form words, might, in one way or the other, be affected by gender (male and female) roles. (See this argument in Chapter Seven for more clarification.)

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CHAPTER FOUR Research Methodology

This chapter provides the methodological background of the study. It does not only give information on how the research was conducted, but also how data were collected, processed and analysed. Specifically, it describes the activities carried out during the fieldwork in the Kuria community, Tanzania. The chapter is divided into seven sections: the study area; research design used by the study; data collection techniques; sample size and sampling procedures; the method of data analysis, fieldwork challenges and lastly, an overview of observation during the fieldwork.