Re: Neuter girls (was Re: French)
| From: | Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, May 30, 2002, 5:07 |
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--- Raymond Brown wrote:
> >Same thing in Dutch: all dimunitives are neuter. Don't ask me why...
>
> An IE habit, I think. Diminutives were neuter in ancient Greek and their
> descendants remain neuter, e.g.
This makes me think of something else. When did Latin lose its neuter gender?
Since none of the Romance languages has it, I would presume that Vulgar Latin
didn't have it neither.
A really stupid question, I admit, but it's about time to fill up this blank
spot in my - generally not-so-bad - education ;)
Jan
=====
"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought,
wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that
happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great
comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." --- J.
Michael Straczynski
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