Gender bias and sexism in the Oshiwambo language

Abstract

The role of language in society is significant as language is a social phenomenon that inherently captures all facets of human society. In sociolinguistics, sexism in language has long been a critical topic. This research attempts to analyse the sexism in language used in everyday discourse through comparison, induction and exemplification by examining gender bias and sexism in Oshiwambo. The goal is to expose some aspects of the Oshiwambo language that relate to social injustice and cultural biases against women. This article examines elements of sexism in the Oshiwambo language that are found in the morphology, syntax and semantics of the language. The results show that discrimination against women is pervasive, as reflected in Oshiwambo everyday discourse, highlighting the dialectic between language and society.