Paper short abstract:

The paper explores the gender style of address terms in Egyptian TV series (2020-2021) and approaches the data sample as a corpus of performed language. It investigates their linguistic creativity and social functions raising media makers' awareness of constructing gender identities on screen.

Paper long abstract:

As part of ongoing qualitative research on language and gender, this paper explores the gender style of address terms in Egyptian TV series (2020-2021). Within this context, a purposive sample of 75 interactions of six couples written by four Egyptian authors in three Egyptian TV series is analyzed linguistically. The study approaches the scripted data as a corpus of performed language demonstrating authors' perceptions of gender style, which may reflect broader societal perceptions. Research has shown a significant relationship between media makers' perceptions of gender styles in scripted performances and natural speech (Tannen, 1994, p. 139). Moreover, there is a strong relationship between gender portrayals in TV series and the stereotypical perceptions of audiences about gender (Herrett-Skjellum and Allen, 1996). This paper investigates the gender style of address terms with respect to significant aspects, such as age and social class, to include variant social groups in examining the portrayal of gender language production. It aims to reveal the construction of gender social identities in interactions through address terms and their linguistic creativity with respect to lexical meanings and social functions. The study reveals that terms of address are influenced by gender and function as a social indicator for class. The study raises media makers' social awareness of constructing social stereotypes about gender identities on screen. The study fills existing gaps in explaining how address terms work in performed interactions for better communication and understanding of language production.

Keywords: Gender, style, performance, terms of address, Egyptian TV series.