The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 3159 Copyright © 2024 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 12, Number 2, December 2024 pp. 3169 - 3183 Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S1, Eliwarti2, Indah Tri Purwanti3 E-mail: shanyaputri@gmail.com1 1,2,3Teachers Training and Education Faculty, University of Riau Received: 2024-05-14 Accepted:2025-02-18 DOI: 10.2456/ideas. v12i2.5029 Abstract This research aimed to identify the women’s language features used by Kamala Khan in the TV series Ms. Marvel (2022) based on the theory of women’s language proposed by Lakoff (1975). It was conducted using the descriptive qualitative method. To collect the data, the researcher watched the TV series several times and noted the utterances Kamala Khan produced that used women’s language features in an observation list. Based on the data collected by the researcher, in all six episodes of the TV series Ms. Marvel (2022), Kamala Khan used women’s language features 180 times in the 971 utterances she produced. The researcher found that 9 out of 10 women’s language features, as described by Lakoff (1975), were used by Kamala Khan in her utterances. Those features are lexical hedges or fillers (65), rising intonation on declaratives (33), “superpolite” forms (29), tag questions (16), avoidance of strong swear words (13), emphatic stress (10), intensifiers (9), “hypercorrect” grammar (3), and “empty” adjectives (3). Lexical hedges or fillers are the most frequent women’s language features used by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel (2022). Meanwhile, precise color terms did not occur in any of Kamala Khan’s utterances. Keywords: Women’s language; women’s language features; gender; Ms. Marvel; Kamala Khan http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 mailto:shanyaputri@gmail.com1 Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3170 Introduction Sociolinguistics examines the correlations between language and social contexts (Holmes and Wilson, 2022). Social factors such as the participants, setting, topic, and function are essential to sociolinguistic explanations of why people in society talk differently and why people do not always talk differently (Holmes & Wilson, 2022). Sociolinguistics is a broad field of language and society that takes on insights from social sciences, such as psychology, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, and other related disciplines (Trudgill, 2000). There are several key topics or areas of interest in sociolinguistics. Some of them are language variation, language and social class, language and identity, language and power, and language and gender. The social context of one’s gender significantly impacts how a person acts and even how they use language, while gender is used to show social status and behavior (Lorber & Farrell, 1991). Litosseliti (2013) argues that the use of language plays a role in shaping our view of the world, including our own identity. Moreover, the gender assigned at birth, whether male or female, influences our behavior and how society interacts with us, including language use (Talbot, 2020). Therefore, language and gender are related to each other. According to Coates (2016), the concept of gender refers to socially constructed classifications that are based on biological sex. The study of the relationship between language and gender, popularized by Robin Lakoff’s book Language and Woman’s Place (1975), highlights the distinction of language characteristics in communication among women, such as indirectness and politeness. These linguistic differences, rooted in social judgments and stereotypes, influence women’s subordinate status. Lakoff (1975) identifies a specific way of speaking that is more common among women in which language is used to subordinate women, which refers to the concept of “women’s language.” Besides, she argues that this communication style mirrors and reinforces an individual’s subordinate status within society. According to Lakoff (2004), women face linguistic discrimination in two forms: through their own language learning and the treatment they receive in general language use. She categorizes ten linguistic features that distinguish the use of language by women from men, which are lexical hedges or fillers, tag questions, rising intonation on declarative, “empty” adjectives, precise color terms, intensifiers, “superpolite” form, “hypercorrect” grammar, avoidance of strong swear words, and emphatic stress. Men have been seen as leading in society for years, while women have been invisible as the opposite (Coates, 2016). However, despite historical gender disparities, progress toward gender equality has facilitated women’s increased visibility and participation in various industries, including entertainment. The representation of women in the entertainment industry has progressed from IDEAS, Vol. 12, No. 2, December 2024 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 3171 negative stereotypes to more diverse and empowered roles (Carroll, 1990; Gauntlett, 2008). It is particularly evident in genres like science fiction and superhero films. Superheroines, who used to play supporting roles, are now portrayed as powerful and able to be in the spotlight of action (Gauntlett, 2008; Knight, 2010). This trend is shown in recent superheroine-led motion pictures from major film and television production companies, highlighting women’s strength and heroism. Ms. Marvel (2022) is a live-action TV series available for streaming online on Disney+. It features Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old American-Pakistani, as the first Muslim superheroine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only highlights the story of how the protagonist got her superpower, but this coming-of-age story also tells the life of her growth in discovering her power as a high school student, and her relationship with her family and friends. She gains her superpowers unexpectedly from a bangle belonging to her great-grandmother as she makes a costume for a convention. Kamala Khan is particularly intriguing for linguistic analysis because of her unique identity as a teenager, Muslim, and Pakistani- American character. As a superheroine, her use of language may reflect both societal expectations placed on women and the challenges of representing her cultural and personal identity within the context of a superhero narrative. Previous studies have explored the use of women’s language features in films. Dewanty (2020) aimed to investigate the features of women’s language in the 2017 film Little Women. She focused on the utterances of the main character, Jo March. The findings of this study revealed that Jo March used nine women’s language features, which are lexical hedges, intensifiers, rising intonation, “hypercorrect” grammar, “superpolite” forms, tag questions, “empty” adjectives, emphatic stress, and precise color terms. Finally, there is no avoidance of strong swear words found in the utterances of Jo March. Research on women’s language features in the film Little Women was also conducted by Sihotang (2022). In that research, she focused on analyzing the utterances of the other three March sisters: Meg March, Beth March, and Amy March. It was found that all three characters used nine of ten women’s language features. Any of those characters did not use precise color terms in their utterances. In addition, the most used feature is an intensifier, as the female characters intensify their meaning by expressing their emotions. While the mentioned studies analyzed utterances by mediocre characters, several studies have also analyzed superheroine characters. Septiari, Sedeng, and Beratha (2022) discussed women’s language features in the 2017 superheroine film Wonder Woman. The findings of this study showed that six of ten women’s linguistic features were found in the data, which included lexical hedges, rising https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=jN7OtX https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=XYyJvt https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=fqXXyh https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=fqXXyh Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3172 intonation on declarative, “empty” adjectives, “hypercorrect” grammar, “superpolite” form, and intensifiers. Meanwhile, the four linguistic features that were not found are tag questions, precise color terms, avoidance of strong swear words, and emphatic stress. This study addresses a specific gap in existing research by analyzing a superheroine TV series rather than films and focusing on a teenage Muslim character. The linguistic behavior of Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel (2022) offers insight into how societal perceptions and evolving portrayals of female characters influence language use. Lakoff’s framework from 1975 was chosen for this study because it remains foundational in understanding women’s language and provides a concise, coherent, and relevant lens for examining gendered linguistic features in contemporary media. Lakoff’s framework remains significant in contemporary media analysis as it provides insight into how societal perceptions of women’s speech are shaped, reflecting broader cultural attitudes and stereotypes. This study aims to answer the following research question: What women’s language features, as identified by Lakoff (1975), are used by Kamala Khan in the TV series Ms. Marvel (2022)? The study’s findings are expected to give a valuable theoretical contribution to linguistics by providing a new understanding of sociolinguistics regarding women’s language features. This research is hoped to be useful, especially for English Department students and lecturers, while practically inspiring other researchers to analyze a TV series from a linguistic standpoint, particularly in exploring women’s language features. Method The researcher used a descriptive qualitative approach since this study focused on observing. According to Bogdan and Biklen (2007), qualitative research is a descriptive study that gathers data through words or visuals instead of numerical values. They highlight that data quotations of various forms of qualitative data, such as interview transcripts, photographs, videotapes, personal documents, and official records, were used to provide examples and support the presentation of the written research findings. The source of data used in this research was the TV series entitled Ms. Marvel. This Disney+ series was released first on June 8, 2022, and consists of six episodes that were released weekly, which made it end eventually on July 13, 2022. This research data specifically included the utterances between Kamala Khan and her interlocutors when they interacted in the TV series. The subtitles provided by the streaming service were also used to ensure that the utterances were written correctly. Additionally, the researcher reviewed the subtitle transcription multiple times to verify its accuracy against the spoken dialogue. Discrepancies, if found, IDEAS, Vol. 12, No. 2, December 2024 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 3173 were noted, and adjustments were made to ensure transcription accuracy and reliability. To collect the data, the researcher followed several steps. First, the researcher watched the TV series Ms. Marvel (2022) on Disney+ Hotstar, the legal subscription-based streaming platform for Marvel Studios’ digital content in Indonesia. The subtitles provided by the streaming service were used to crosscheck the data of utterances. While watching the TV series, the researcher focused on listening to Kamala Khan’s conversations with her interlocutors and identifying all of her utterances that use any of the ten women’s language features as proposed by Lakoff (1975, as cited in Holmes & Wilson, 2022). Then, the researcher put them in an observation list as a table consisting of timestamps, utterances, and the names of the linguistic features. Simultaneously, the researcher transcribed all dialogues Kamala Khan uttered with the subtitle file’s help to ensure consistency in transcription. The researcher adopted the three concurrent activities by Miles et al. (2014) to analyze the data: data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. First, the researcher did data condensation. The researcher focused on observing and identifying the utterances produced by Kamala Khan that use women’s language features. Then, each utterance was categorized according to the ten features of women’s language proposed by Lakoff, which are lexical hedges or fillers, tag questions, rising intonation on declarative, “empty” adjectives, precise color terms, intensifiers, “superpolite” form, “hypercorrect” grammar, avoidance of strong swear words, or emphatic stress (1975, as cited in Holmes & Wilson, 2022). Next, the researcher displayed the data. The data were displayed in an observation list as a table consisting of the utterances by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel (2022) TV series and which women’s language features were used. The timestamp of when the utterances occur was also noted to make it easier to analyze the context. While watching the TV series, the researcher wrote down the identified utterances by Kamala Khan that employed the women’s language features in the “utterances” column. The specific linguistic features in the utterance were bolded. Simultaneously, the utterances were categorized into the correct features based on the concept of women’s language proposed by Lakoff (1975, as cited in Holmes & Wilson, 2022). The researcher typed down the name of the linguistic feature in the “features” column. After that, the researcher continued counting each feature’s frequency or occurrences and percentages. To ensure reliability and validity, the researcher applied a triangulation data technique during the validation process. After collecting and categorizing all the data, the researcher consulted the data with three experts to ensure validity and eliminate errors. The requirements for the validators were lecturers with a Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3174 master’s degree and at least three years of teaching experience. These validators checked the data thoroughly and provided feedback on the categorization of Kamala Khan’s utterances according to Lakoff's (1975) ten women’s language features. The feedback from the validators helped refine the coding process and ensure consistency in identifying the linguistic features. The researcher acknowledges potential limitations in the methodology. One limitation is the reliance on subtitles, which may not always perfectly capture tone or speech patterns such as rising intonation. Another limitation is the subjective nature of identifying linguistic features based on Lakoff’s framework, particularly given the broad interpretations some features may allow. To mitigate this, the researcher ensured objectivity by adhering strictly to the operational definitions of each feature and conducting cross-checks with experts as described earlier. The last step is conclusion drawing. In this process, the researcher descriptively elaborated on the research findings, including examples of each of the women’s language features found in the utterances by Kamala Khan in the TV series Ms. Marvel (2022). The researcher interpreted the findings using their context and use and then concluded the whole analysis process. Finally, the researcher reflects on their own background and potential biases. As an individual with an academic background in English Education and familiarity with linguistic frameworks, the researcher was conscious of potential interpretive bias when analyzing language features. To reduce bias, a review from three validators were conducted, and all observations were cross-referenced with Lakoff’s theoretical framework. Results Table 1. Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel TV Series Women’s Language Feature Frequency Percentages (%) Lexical Hedges of Fillers 65 36 Tag Questions 16 9 Rising Intonation on Declaratives 33 18 “Empty” Adjectives 2 1 Precise Color Terms 0 0 Intensifiers 9 5 “Hypercorrect” Grammar 3 2 “Superpolite” Forms 29 16 Avoidance of Strong Swear Words 13 7 Emphatic Stress 10 6 Total 180 100 IDEAS, Vol. 12, No. 2, December 2024 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 3175 Based on the data collected by the researcher, in all six episodes of the TV series Ms. Marvel (2022), Kamala Khan used women’s language features 180 times in the 971 utterances she produced. The researcher found that 9 out of 10 women’s language features, as described by Lakoff (1975), were used by Kamala Khan in her utterances. Those features are lexical hedges or fillers, rising intonation on declaratives, “superpolite” forms, tag questions, avoidance of strong swear words, emphatic stress, intensifiers, “hypercorrect” grammar, and “empty” adjectives. Meanwhile, the language feature precise color terms are not found in the analyzed data. The table above shows the number of occurrences of each women’s language features used by Kamala Khan and its percentages. The analysis reveals a clear preference for specific women’s language features, particularly lexical hedges or fillers, rising intonation on declaratives, and “superpolite” forms, which collectively account for 70% of the total occurrences. These features reflect Kamala’s personality as a polite, cautious, and empathetic communicator. The absence of precise color terms may be attributed to the lack of opportunities within the storyline to describe colors in detail. Interestingly, the high frequency of lexical hedges or fillers suggests Kamala’s tendency to express hesitation or uncertainty, which aligns with her portrayal as a young, inexperienced superhero navigating new responsibilities. Additionally, the lower frequencies of intensifiers and “hypercorrect” grammar indicate that Kamala’s language use strikes a balance between informality and respect, reflecting her dual roles as a teenager and a superhero. Lexical Hedges or Fillers Kamala : So, how did you all, um, say you knew her? Was it, like, did you guys meet in school or something? This conversation happens after Najma tells her side of the story to Kamala. Kamala frequently uses lexical hedges such as “um” and “like” in this scene, where she used them as a pause, signifying a short hesitation. She used the lexical hedge “like” as a hesitation marker that softened her question to Najma. She was not confident with herself and wanted to make sure where Najma knew her great- grandmother Aisha from. That hedge and filler can also be signs of information overload. They showed Kamala’s hesitation and sought clarification. Kamala found it hard to understand all the new information that she had heard from Najma in a short amount of time. The high frequency of hedges (65 occurrences) suggests https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=PoSnXw Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3176 Kamala’s preference for cautious and non-assertive communication, aligning with Lakoff's assertion that women often hedge to avoid appearing overly assertive. Tag Questions Kamala : Now, if it was him asking… Be like, “Oh, yes, Aamir. Do what you want, Aamir beta. Please, please.” But me, no, because I can’t do a single normal teenage thing in this house, right? The use of tag questions, as in this example, highlights Kamala’s tendency to seek validation or agreement from her interlocutors. In this dialogue, Kamala Khan shows her frustration for getting different treatment as a child from her parents. She used the tag question “right?" at the end of her statement. Kamala used this tag question to comment on her role as a daughter in the family. She seeks agreement from her parents as the listener. Yet, she also lacks complete confidence in that statement’s accuracy. Tag questions accounted for 9% of the total occurrences, indicating Kamala’s occasional insecurity and need for affirmation. Rising Intonation on Declaratives Aamir : Why can’t Kamala do it? Muneeba : She’s going to help me with my errands. You know the ones for your wedding? Kamala : I am? Rising intonation on declaratives (18%) often signals uncertainty or a request for confirmation. Kamala’s mother, Muneeba, asks Aamir to put the package from Nani in the attic. Aamir asks his mother why he has to do it. Muneeba tells him that Kamala is going with her to help complete her errands. In this scene, Kamala uttered the declarative sentence “I am?” ending with a rising intonation. Kamala’s use of rising intonation in this instance suggested her uncertainty or seeking confirmation about the task given by her mother. This feature reinforces her polite and non-confrontational communication style. By ending her statement with an increasing pitch, Kamala implied her questioning. She was asking about her involvement in helping her mother with the errands. This use of rising intonation on declaratives aligned with Lakoff’s observation that women use it to seek confirmation, convey politeness, or a preference to avoid displaying authority. IDEAS, Vol. 12, No. 2, December 2024 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 3177 “Empty” Adjectives Muneeba : How was Zoe’s house? Kamala : Oh, it was magical. The rare use of “empty” adjectives (1%) in Kamala’s dialogue serves as a means of providing vague and non-specific descriptions, often as a polite response. For example, Kamala’s use of “magical”. The context here, Kamala Khan gets home from the party with her friends. In this dialogue, Kamala implies that she has told her mother she went to her friend Zoe’s house. When her mother asks how it was, Kamala responds that it was “magical”. It showed that the adjective “magical” is empty. Kamala did not clarify what made the event magical. In other words, it gave meaningless information about the event at Zoe’s house that Kamala was describing, emphasizing politeness over clarity. Intensifiers Kamala : I can’t wear a salwar kameez to AvengerCon, okay? And you can’t come with me, not dressed like that, because it is so humiliating. Intensifiers (5%) emphasize Kamala’s emotional reactions, as seen in this utterance. Kamala Khan’s parents allow her to go to AvengerCon if she goes with her father while wearing a Hulk costume that her mother made. Kamala added the intensifier “so” before the word “humiliating” in her utterance. It strengthened her statement about her feelings towards the situation. She showed that she seriously feels that going with her father in the costume her mother made was humiliating. Thus, the intensifier also indicated Kamala’s lack of confidence. She wanted her interlocutors, her parents, to take her statement seriously without showing her place to express strong emotions or make assertive statements. The use of “so” underscores her feelings of embarrassment while simultaneously softening the impact of her statement, making it less confrontational. “Hypercorrect” Grammar Kamala : Why did you not warn me this thing was death? Kamala Khan, her mother Muneeba, and her cousins are having lunch at the boat club in Karachi, Pakistan. It turns out that she eats pani poori, a spicy traditional food. In this scene, Kamala employed “hypercorrect” grammar (2%). She used the auxiliary verb “did” and the negative “not,” making it grammatically Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3178 more formal. She avoided using the more informal and conversational contraction “didn’t.” This usage may stem from her desire to maintain politeness and respect, particularly when addressing older relatives. It showed that Kamala’s self- awareness of her status influenced her understanding of the importance of speaking appropriately in a formal manner. In other words, Kamala respected Rukhsana as an older family relative she had not met for a long time. “Superpolite” Forms Muneeba : Kamala Khan. If you’re gonna ask something about AvengerCon Two or… Kamala : No, no, no, no, no. No. Zoe’s having some people over tonight. Bruno and Nakia will both be there. And I’ll be home by 9:00. Please can I go? Muneeba : Okay. But this time, you see that you come back through the door. Kamala : Thank you. Kamala Khan helps her mother bring the shopping bags in. She apologizes for sneaking out yesterday. Her mother accepts her apology and reminds her that all that matters is for her to stay safe. Then, she wants to ask her mother something. Her mother assumes that she wants to go to another AvengerCon. Kamala asks her mother’s permission to go to Zoe’s house. Her mother allows her to go. Next, Kamala expresses her gratitude to her mother. In this context, Kamala used two “superpolite” forms. First, she added “please” when asking for a favor from her mother. Second, after her mother allowed her, she expressed her gratitude by saying “thank you”. Kamala’s frequent use of “please” and “thank you” (16%) indicates her deference and respect, particularly when speaking to authority figures such as her mother. This aligns with Lakoff ’s claim that women often employ superpolite forms to mitigate requests or show gratitude. Avoidance of Strong Swear Words Kamala : I share the same name as Carol fricking Danvers? Kamala Khan is talking on the porch with his father. His father tells her that her name, Kamala, means perfect in Arabic. In Urdu, her name means wonder, marvel. Kamala is shocked after discovering that her name means the same as her idol, Captain Marvel. When expressing her surprise and disbelief, she added “fricking” into her utterance. The substitution of “fricking” for a stronger expletive exemplifies Kamala’s avoidance of strong swear words (7%). This choice of words indicated that Kamala refrained from using the stronger swear word “fucking”. This IDEAS, Vol. 12, No. 2, December 2024 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 3179 demonstrates her self-awareness in maintaining politeness and appropriateness in different contexts, especially when speaking with family members. Emphatic Stress Kamala : You have Kamran. Najma : I don’t. I left him behind. Kamala : So, go back and get him. All Aisha ever wanted was to be with her family and you took that from her. Please don’t take that from Kamran, too. Kamala Khan tries to stop Najma from entering The Veil. Although it is open, entering is unsafe as one of Najma’s teammates failed. Kamala warns Najma that entering The Veil will destroy everything. She reminds her that she still has Kamran, Najma’s son. Kamala tells her to reunite with her son because her great- grandmother longed to be with her family. In this scene, emphatic stress (6%) is used to highlight key points in Kamala’s speech, as seen in her plea to Najma. Kamala emphasized words in her utterance: “Kamran,” “go back,” and “get him.” She strengthened her utterance by using extra force on those words to ensure that her interlocutor, Najma, understood what she was trying to convey without forcing Najma to believe her completely. This feature also reinforces Kamala’s determination and emotional investment without resorting to overt assertiveness. Discussion Based on the data collected by the researcher, it was found that Kamala Khan utilized women’s language features in 180 utterances. Nine types of women’s language features were used, which included 65 occurrences of lexical hedges or fillers (36%), 16 occurrences of tag questions (9%), 33 occurrences of rising intonation on declaratives (18%), two occurrences of empty adjectives (1%), nine occurrences of intensifiers (5%), three occurrences of “hypercorrect” grammar (2%), 29 occurrences of “superpolite” forms (16%), 13 occurrences of avoidance of strong swear words (7%), and 10 occurrences of emphatic stress (6%). Meanwhile, precise color terms did not occur in any of Kamala Khan’s utterances. The most frequent occurrences in Kamala Khan’s utterances are lexical hedges or fillers. Kamala Khan used it 65 times (36%) in her spoken expressions. The lexical hedges or fillers uttered by Kamala Khan are “like”, “um”, “uh”, “you know”, “maybe”, “just”, “I think” and “I mean”. As Lakoff (1975) suggested, lexical hedges show politeness and reduce the potential harshness of a statement. The analysis revealed that Kamala used this language feature to show her insecurity and uncertainty. Kamala used lexical hedges and fillers to soften her statements and make her appear polite despite having the most superpowers, which aligns Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3180 with Lakoff’s (1975) assertion that women use these features to avoid confrontation and appear polite. However, Kamala’s use of these features also reflects her youth, inexperience, and cultural background. At 15 years old, Kamala is portrayed as a teenager navigating complex interpersonal relationships and new responsibilities as a superhero. Her reliance on hedges and fillers may signal her attempts to reconcile her dual identities as an ordinary high school student and a powerful superheroine, creating a communication style that balances politeness and caution. This finding is similar to the previous research findings by Naovaratthanakorn (2018) and Rahadiyanti (2020). Their research found that women characters used lexical hedges and fillers the most. They used them 166 times (36.81%) and 141 times (59.49%). Kamala’s cultural background as a Pakistani-American may also influence her use of women’s language features. The expectation for politeness and respect in South Asian cultures, particularly toward elders and authority figures, is evident in her frequent use of “superpolite” forms (16%). For example, Kamala often uses phrases like “please” and “thank you” when making requests, even in situations where less formal language might suffice. This contrasts with the findings of studies such as Rahadiyanti (2020), which analyzed characters in A Streetcar Named Desire and found lower frequencies of “superpolite” forms in Western settings. Kamala’s politeness may thus be both a reflection of her cultural upbringing and a strategy to navigate the expectations placed upon her as a young woman in a multicultural environment. The women’s language feature not found in any of Kamala Khan’s utterances in Ms. Marvel (2022) TV series is precise color terms. Precise color terms refer to a specific term of a color shade, like magenta or khaki. This absence of precise color terms might be due to the series’ focus on action and fast-paced dialogue, which leaves little room for discussions in contexts involving fashion, design, or detailed descriptions. This finding is similar to the research findings by Sudarto (2020) and Sihotang (2022). Sudarto’s research (2022) looked at the MCU film Captain Marvel (2019). The main character, Carol Danvers, also used no precise color words in her speech. However, this finding contrasts with the research by Rahadiyanti (2020). The two female characters in Tennessee Williams’s play A Streetcar Named Desire (1948) used precious color terms twice. It was the least used feature and only occurred when the characters, Blanche and Stella, discussed fashion in the final scene. The absence of such terms in Kamala’s dialogue may also reflect her age and interests; as a teenager focused on navigating her newfound powers and responsibilities, Kamala’s vocabulary may prioritize practicality over precision. This thorough analysis found that Kamala Khan’s speech in the Ms. Marvel (2022) TV series still employed women’s language features, which reflects her unique position as a young, culturally diverse superheroine. Despite being a powerful mutant superheroine, she used them to interact and express herself. Her https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=cSYLYU https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=cSYLYU https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=w1M5Tn https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=I22SIf https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=ZpGHSW https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?broken=ttDhyy IDEAS, Vol. 12, No. 2, December 2024 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 3181 frequent use of lexical hedges, “superpolite” forms, and avoidance of strong swear words underscores her politeness and caution, while her occasional use of emphatic stress and rising intonation highlights her emotional intensity and determination. However, it is noteworthy that a specific linguistic feature, precise color terms, was absent from Kamala’s speech. This could be due to Kamala’s small vocabulary, as she is still a 15-year-old teenager. The lack of precise color terms could also be due to story restrictions since no scene in the TV series could bring up a discussion on fashion. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how language and gender are represented in media, emphasizing the importance of intersectional analysis in linguistic studies. Conclusion This research has analyzed the features of women’s language used by Kamala Khan in all six episodes of Ms. Marvel (2022) TV series. By employing Lakoff’s (1975) theory, this research revealed that nine features were used in the utterances by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel (2022) TV series. The use of women’s language features occurred in 180 utterances. Then, the researcher found that lexical hedge was the most frequently used feature of women’s language, followed by rising intonation on declaratives as the second, and “superpolite” forms as the third most used. Meanwhile, one feature of women’s language that was not found in Kamala Khan’s utterances was precise color terms. The researcher suggests that through this research, students, teachers, and lecturers raise awareness and understanding of gendered language patterns. By increasing knowledge, we can see how language reflects and preserves gender stereotypes. This awareness helps us make media more inclusive and fairer. Then, the researcher also recommends that future researchers conduct more detailed research on women’s language. They could explore how contexts, like culture, social status, and age, may affect the use of women’s language in media. Researchers could better understand how society shapes language by exploring these contexts. Shanya Putri Faiziah Pribadi S, Eliwarti, Indah Tri Purwanti Features of Women’s Language Used by Kamala Khanin Ms. Marvel TV Series: A Sociolinguistics Study 3182 References Bogdan, R., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (5th ed.). Pearson A & B. Carroll, N. (1990). 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