Re: Sarah's language.

Garth Wallace scripsit:

> They're connected concepts--first declension is always masculine (except
> for a few neuters), second is always feminine, third contains examples
> of all genders, fourth is mostly feminine (IIRC)--but they don't line up
> exactly.
This has got to break the record for error density.  The 1st (-a) declension
is almost all feminines; the 2nd (-o) declension is divided between
masculines and neuters; the 3rd declension indeed contains nouns of all
genders; the 4th (-u) declension also contains nouns of all genders,
though masculines predominate; the 5th declension is very small and
contains almost entirely feminines.

There were, of course, exceptions:  contemplate the Spanish sentence

        El poeta toca la mano.

--
First known example of political correctness:   John Cowan
"After Nurhachi had united all the other        http://www.reutershealth.com
Jurchen tribes under the leadership of the      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
Manchus, his successor Abahai (1592-1643)       jcowan@reutershealth.com
issued an order that the name Jurchen should       --S. Robert Ramsey,
be banned, and from then on, they were all         _The Languages of China_
to be called Manchus."

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