Re: Gender

On Thu, 7 Sep 2000, Thomas R. Wier wrote:

> Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 6 Sep 2000, Mike Adams wrote:
> >
> > > Sort of like the Wofir hypotesis? I know English still has some gender
> > > usage, but we seem to have been loosing it over time. It maybe part of
> > > our international flavor and popularity?
> >
> > By Wofir do you mean Whorf-Sapir, or is it something else I haven't heard
> > of
>
> No, that seems to be what he means.
For the sake of this ignorant conlanger wannabe <G> could someone briefly
summarize Wofir...?  I did a search and found random spam sites,
including one in German about some sort of history, but my German's not
good enough to attempt to read it.

> Mike:  for the sake of us all, please please *please* quote what you're
> referring to, and cut out with the jargon! It makes you very difficult
> to read and interpret.
Agreed on the quoting part, at least.  If it's jargon I figure it's
something I haven't learned yet.  :-/

> > (happens a lot)?
>
> Give yourself more credit! :) You've shown you understand much about
> linguistics, especially since you've never taken a course on it.
<rueful look>  Avid book-reading has its advantages.  And there's so much
more to learn!  I'm reading _Pacific Languages_ by John Lynch, which is
written for lay readers and a *lot* of fun, and a Turkish grammar (I
couldn't find Mongolian, but Turkish is good, too!).  I just got a check
in for a fantasy story sale, so I can now pick up Comrie and maybe some
other recommended books without feeling guilty about overspending my
parents' money on books.  :-p

YHL