TEXT D Some interesting recent
research by a team from MRC Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge analysed the
sound structure of a large number of first names, and found some interesting
differences between men and women. It seems the sexes do not sound the same. The
claims are of course limited by the size of their sample--1,667 entries taken
from a dictionary of English first names--but the claims they make can easily be
checked against our intuitions, and they seem very plausible: ●
Female first names tend to be longer than males, in terms of the number of
syllables they contain. Males are much more likely to have a monosyllabic first
name (Bob, Jim Fred, Frank, John), and much less likely to have a name of three
or more syllables (Christopher, Nicholas). By contrast, there are few
monosyllabic female names in the list (Ann, Joan, May) , and many of them are
trisyllabic or more ( Katherine, Elizabeth, Amanda). ● 95% of
male names have a first syllable which is strongly stressed, whereas only 75% of
female names show this pattern. It is not difficult to think of female names
which begin with an unstressed syllable (Patricia, Elizabeth, Rebecca,
Michelle), but male names are few and far between (Jerome, Dementrius). In fact,
none of the popular British male names in top-2-1ists from the past 75 years has
had an unstressed initial syllable--and only three American names.
● The stressed syllables of female names tend to make much more use of the
high front vowel / I/, such as Lisa, Tina, Celia, Maxine, and the archetypal
Fifi and Mimi. Male names in /I/ are far less common (Steve, Keith,
Peter). ● Female pet names tend to be longer than male. A
dissyllabic pet name could be either male or female, but a monosyllabic one is
much more likely to be male. Jackie could be either sex, but Jack is male.
Several other pairs share this expectancy, such as Bill /Billie and
Bob/Bollie. ● Female names are much more likely to end in a
vowel, as with Linda, Judy, Deborah, Barbara. If not a vowel, the last sound
will very likely be a continuant, especially a nasal (Jean, Kathleen, Sharon,
Ann). By contrast, plosives are much more likely to be found in male endings
(Bob, David, Dick, Jack). It is of course difficult, perhaps
impossible, to explain these trends. Could the sound-symbolic associations of
/I/, such as smallness and brightness, explain the bias of that vowel Can we
relate the trend towards use of an initial stressed syllable to greater
masculine aggressiveness One thing is sure: it is much more difficult to
generalize safely about female names. Popular male names are used much more
predictably. There are several male names which have appeared on every list of
the top 20 names in recent times (e. g. John, David), but no one female name
appears on all lists. People are much readier to be inventive and different with
female names. According to the passage, "Sabrina" is a clear-cut feminine name for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that ______.
A.it begins with a gentle sibilant /s/ B.it has three syllables C.the stress falls on the second syllable D.it has a strong /I/ vowel