<p>The aim of this study was to find out how features that have been found to be typical of women’s language, such as hedges, tag questions and a high level of talkativeness etc., are represented in a popular TV series. Five cross-sex conversations from one episode of the sitcom <em>The New Adventures of Old Christine </em>were analyzed, and the results show that many of the features of interest, as for instance tag questions, minimal responses and indirect style, are unexpectedly used more frequently by men in this small investigation. In fact, the only feature that was used more frequently by the female main character was hedges. Several factors affect the results of the study, as for instance the fact that the conversations are fictional. The special characteristics of the speakers also affect the results, as well as the tone and the topic of the chosen conversations. Many of the features of interest were used to a very small extent, which is probably a result of the fact that the language in a sitcom is to be entertaining and rather quick, which leaves little or no room for the features studied.</p>

The aim of this study was to find out how features that have been found to be typical of women’s language, such as hedges, tag questions and a high level of talkativeness etc., are represented in a popular TV series. Five cross-sex conversations from one episode of the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine were analyzed, and the results show that many of the features of interest, as for instance tag questions, minimal responses and indirect style, are unexpectedly used more frequently by men in this small investigation. In fact, the only feature that was used more frequently by the female main character was hedges. Several factors affect the results of the study, as for instance the fact that the conversations are fictional. The special characteristics of the speakers also affect the results, as well as the tone and the topic of the chosen conversations. Many of the features of interest were used to a very small extent, which is probably a result of the fact that the language in a sitcom is to be entertaining and rather quick, which leaves little or no room for the features studied.

Even though numerous studies on language and gender have been carried out, the number of studiesconducted in researching language and gender in cartoons is limited. The present study analyzestalkativeness and the use of questions and interruptions in two popular cartoons, the Winx Club andthe LEGO Ninjago: Master of spinjitzu in order to investigate possible differences in language usebetween female and male characters. The present study concludes that there are more similaritiesthan differences in language use of male and female characters. / Även om ett stort antal studier av språk och kön har genomförts, är antalet studier av språk och genusi tecknade serier begränsat. Den föreliggande studien analyserar pratsamhet och användandet avfrågor och avbrytningar i två populära serier: Winx Club och LEGO Ninjago: Master av spinjitzu föratt utforska eventuella skillnader i språkbruk mellan kvinnliga och manliga karaktärer. Denna studiedrar slutsatsen att likheterna i språkbruk hos manliga och kvinnliga karaktärer är större änskillnaderna.