Gossip in “big little lies”: a sociolinguistic study

Abstract EN

Gossip is a linguistic phenomenon that doesn't only appear in literary works, movies and series but it can be also tracked almost in the daily communication of people regardless of their sex.

The act of gossip has been studied in different sociolinguistic researches.

Many literary works and Movies have been investigated with the attempt of exploring gossips, their usages, types, and functions.

In the present research paper, gossip in “big little lies” by Liane Moraity is discussed.

The four basic functional types of gossip of Deborah Johnes (1980), Foster's (2004) functions of using gossips and Coates (1997) theories regarding the difference between men and women talk are the main are adopted.

The study aims at exploring the most common situations in which gossips are used, the relationship between people gossiping, the difference between the way and the frequency men and women gossip.

It also aims at analyzing types, functions and linguistic features of gossips used in the literary work under investigation.