Language and Gender: A Pragmatic Discourse of Convenience Inscriptions

Abstract

This study examines how the discourse of language and gender are employed in describing convenient inscriptions in different locations across the world. The study set out to find out, among other things, how gender is portrayed through convenience inscriptions; the specific language devices used in the selected inscriptions and also determining the contextual interpretation of these inscriptions. Making references to the difference and multimodal discourse analysis frameworks, the researchers employed a qualitative eclectic approach in the description and analysis of the data, which were extracted through personal screenshots from Twitter. The findings from the study show that convenience inscriptions have glorified communicative worth and gender portrayal through a variety of themes such as sex, loquaciousness and sports. Also, the study shows that language devices such as text/textuality, symbolism, visual imagery and satire/sarcasm play significant roles in the make-up of convenience inscriptions and their relevance to gender.