Re: Metrical Stress, Feet, Syllables, Genders, Email Servers etc.

On Mon, Feb 09, 2004 at 06:08:59PM -0800, Costentin Cornomorus wrote:
> Note that such a construct has seen some use in
> (sci-fi) literature. I mentioned once before
> Laurie Marks who makes use of the (fully
> declined) pronoun "id" for nongendered beings.
And I've mentioned Lois McMaster Bujold's novels, in which there are
genetically engineered humans at both ends of the sexual axis:
completely sexless (the Cetagandan ba) and completely functional as
both sexes (Betan hermaphrodites).  Both categories
are referred to using the neuter pronoun "it".  (And comments to the
effect that ba are "really 'it's" while hermaphrodites aren't will, in
the presence of a Betan, engender [ahem] a long explanation of the
different connotations "it" has in Betan usage.)

-Mark