Linguistic Change, Women, and the Power in Neuroscience

The poem “Totally, Like, Whatever” by Taylor Mali made the viral rounds several years ago and playfully criticizes the way younger generations speak with one another. He mocks the conversion of declarative sentences into questions, also known as “uptalk” (raised intonation at the end of phrases), and the excessive use of “like” and “you know” that characterize young people’s speech habits.

In the 1970’s, a new sociolect (a variety of a language spoken by a certain social group) in Southern California called “valleyspeak” or “valley girl” started making its way into popular culture. The characteristics of this way of talking? Uptalk and excessive use of “like”. Taylor Mali’s depiction of a generation’s language that is similar to a sociolect of the 1970’s exhibits a phenomenon virtually unknown to the general public: that women are the linguistic innovators that spark language evolution for future generations of both males and females.

Linguists have documented this phenomenon, and they are careful to state that such linguistic change is never indicative of a language’s descent into a “lower quality” state. Dialects and languages are not better structured than other variations; they are simply different and each has its own complex set of rules. Documentation of uptalk between both genders and descriptions of how both genders use it strategically help support the idea that changes in language trends do not mean a lowering of a linguistic standard. So, Taylor Mali’s criticism of the new way of speaking is linguistically flawed, and, radically speaking, against women’s ways of talking in 1970’s southern California.

Setting sociolinguistics aside (whole books can be written on this subject), it is trickier to explain why and how language change occurs, and why women in particular are agents in this process. Studies that investigate linguistic change over time are capable of describing what happens and suggesting how women are able to instigate linguistic change and innovation. An article in the New York Times summarizes some theories; one, that women use language to assert their power in a culture that usually denies them agency, and two, that young women are socially permitted to experiment with language,

While linguistic and sociological studies can describe what occurs on the surface, they cannot get into the deeper reasons that may explain what determines this phenomenon. When I refer to “deeper reasons”, I refer to the possibility that there could be structural features in the female brain that may contribute to their roles as linguistic innovators in society. A study conducted by Douglas D. Burman, Tali Bitan, and James R. Booth in 2008 attempts to explain how men and women differ in language abilities. Using a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers were able to identify what parts of the brain are used when performing certain verbal tasks by measuring the amount of oxygenated blood that flows to certain regions.

They found that girls use language-specific structures in the brain and are more accurate when performing language tests, whereas boys rely on other brain structures not related to language and perform less accurately on the tests. The researchers conclude that girls “have significantly greater activation in linguistic areas of the brain” than boys. This study may explain why women are linguistic innovators: if women are more efficient at learning and using language than men are, it is a logical conclusion that women are more capable of introducing new linguistic ideas into the population.


While this study presents sound methods and reasonable analyses and conclusions on the data, it is always important to proceed with caution when trying to attribute differences between the sexes and social behavior to biological structures. Science has often been used to justify existing gender biases and reinforce the idea that women are passive beings who are subject to the changes placed upon them. However, with this study and the idea that women have power when it comes to language change, it is possible to rethink previous ideas about language and power, and expand our knowledge base instead of reinforcing what is already believed. Embracing linguistic change as an expansion, instead of rejecting it as a downgrade like Taylor Mali, supports the idea that women can have power in society and help dictate the future of linguistic change.