Re: OT: Gender Bending Moro

On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 01:24:49 -0800, David J. Peterson <dedalvs@...> wrote:

Spanish (alike in others)
>nina = girl
>nino = boy
>ninas = girls
>ninos = boys *or* children
>
>Well, as it turns out, Moro, a real language, does *exactly* the
>opposite.
>
>ombja = boy
>Ne4a = girl
>lembja = boys
>Je4a = girls *or* children (e.g., 100 boys and 1 girl, or all boys, too)
>
>So, there you have it: A virtually undocumented language until
>now strikes a blow for women's rights!
I think it's that way in Spansih and other languages (e.g. Italian), because
thoese are primarily male-dominated societies where the womens don't have
much influence, which reflects in the language.
If women were to have more influence in the society (or if it would even be
a female-dominated society), I could very well imagine that mixed-gender
groups would be based on the female form then - not just in Moro, but
probably also in other languages in which women have some influence in the
society (female amazon tribes, for example).

--
Pascal A. Kramm, author of:
Shinsei: http://www.choton.org/shinsei/
Intergermansk: http://www.choton.org/ig/
Chatiga: http://www.choton.org/chatiga/
Choton: http://www.choton.org
Ichwara Prana: http://www.choton.org/ichwara/
Skälansk: http://www.choton.org/sk/
Advanced English: http://www.choton.org/ae/

Replies