Genderlect

The men who interact with Tenar, including men who speak in the Old Speech, use a genderlect that shows their dominance and superiority.

Hiatt has no doubt about the existence of a distinct 'feminine style' or genderlect and even offers a theory of how it arose, which is that the male world of action 'emphasizes events and decisions rather than perceptive observations of people'.

The purpose of genderlect theory is to understand the language used by men and women. The first study in genderlect theory is exploring how gender-language patterns are always limiting between women and men. Further research begins with a focus on how different gender language patterns are used by women and men in both written and spoken results.