Re gender of Certain words in Latin and in the Romance Languages ESPECIALLY SPANISH
Whenever I use the spanish word fuente (fountain) I am tempted to say_el fuente_ which would be incorrect since the word in spanish is feminine. This uncertainty comes I guess from the fact that the corresponding cognate in latin is masculine. On the other hand we have latin pons and spanish puente which are both masculine. Anyway, it seems that some words coming especially from the Latin third declension into the modern romance languages ended up with the “wrong” gender. Another pair illustrating this would be latin paries (masculine) and spanish pared (feminine). I am wondering whether others can think of additional examples of mismatched gender not just in modern Spanish but in any of the other modern daughter languages of latin. Are Spanish speakers who are learning Latin given special lists of such confusing pairs as a memory aid? Kynetus
Nope. At least in my experience, I’ve had little trouble with gender in latin nouns, since very many of them coincide. German, on the other hand… sheesh… Seldom do Spanish and German nouns agree on the gender, and that’s been one of the greatest obstacles for me to learning that northern language. But, just a curious question, how do Anglophones know the gender of certain inanimate things if the articles “a” or “the” or “that” are neutral, e.g., That car, she’s a beaut!
“She” is sometimes used to refer to countries, ships, or machines, but this is due to personification of inanimate objects, not a difference in grammatical gender. In modern English, the personal pronouns essentially denote natural gender.
Nope. At least in my experience, I’ve had little trouble with gender in latin nouns, since very many of them coincide.
Yeah .. but it is where they don’t coincide that I am apt to get thrown off especially since I surffer from severe add and might not notice that lack of coincidance. Anyway thanks for your comment.
I would not worry about it…it’s not an outright grammatical error to use the wrong pronoun when referring to these things. In fact, logicians will tell you that it is a fallacy to assign any type of personification to such things and that the only proper pronoun for them is “it.” Nevertheless, Americans, particularly men, like to refer to machines as “she.” For example, a man might look at the car he’s restored and say “ain’t she a beauty?” But, I’ve also heard many of the women I know refer to their cars as “he.” I know that I, even though it’s wrong grammar (perhaps even a touch chauvinist, though not purposely so), refer to my lawnmower and other large machines as “she.”
Countries, unless they demand otherwise (e.g., Germany as “The Fatherland”), are either “she” or “it.” But, this is almost exclusively done in America by Americans referring to America. If I met a Frenchman, for example, in America, who referred to their homeland as “she,” I would not be surprised…I probably would not even notice. However, if I met an American who did the same, I would think it poor use of grammar or perhaps even assume that some kind of allegance existed.
The use of “he” and “she” in American-English is more a kind of colloquial personification that adds a “near and dear” quality to the reference. This leads to trouble, however, as I often refer to each of my dogs as “she” even though two out of four are male. But it’s not that “dog” is an engendered noun. It’s only because my dogs are “near and dear.” I think the same psychology is probably behind how we refer to loved ones. I call my daughter “hon” (“honey”) and my son “bud” (“buddy”). I often mix them up to the utter disgust of my children…and I think the disgust has less to do with my son or daughter thinking that I’ve confused them with the other…and more to do with the fact that each of those terms is slightly engendered towards the female and male sex respectively.
Bottom line (IMHO): When referring to the inanimate, men more typically use “she” and women more typically use “he.” Please understand, however, this is a broad generalization and by no means a statistically supported argument.
Chris
p.s. Sorry to drone on and on…it’s just a cool topic.
Really? I watch a lot of Brit-coms, and could have sworn that I’ve heard characters use the possessive pronoun “her” when speaking patriotically about England’s shores or other natural features. Maybe I imagined it. Although, you did say “almost exclusively”.
I apologize…that was my mistake. By “almost exclusively,” I was trying to convey what I hear in the course of my day, which takes place smack-dab in the center of America. I have to own up to a hefty ignorance in how others outside America speak with one another…something I know nothing about.
I’m sorry to have been confusing in that regard…but I was trying to slyly cloak my own ignorance.
French has mismatches too. One example is words in -eur, which come from Latin words in -orem, which I believe are (all?) masculine, but in general have become feminine in French, e.g. la fleur, la couleur, but then certain grammarians decided they had to bring back the “correct” gender, so some words like honneur and labeur have switched back to masculine. My favourite example, though, is those neuter plurals which became feminine singulars, so the number is a mismatch too.
