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Re: Genders (Forgive me for this :) )

From:Patrick Dunn <tb0pwd1@...>
Date:Monday, January 10, 2000, 4:50
On Sun, 9 Jan 2000, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Patrick Dunn wrote: > > Well, I'm not a linguist, but I seem to recall my OE teacher mentioning > > that when French and OE (both of which are gendered) met, the genders > > didn't always agree so they were often dropped. > > No. French had little influence on English grammar. Besides which, > IIRC, some form of gender survived into the late Middle English period, > and number agreement on adjectives survived until near the very end, > FWIR. >
Shows how well I listened in Old English. :) I paid closer attention to Beowulf, and it has paid off: Beowulf is one of the items on the comps reading list. Won't it impress those gritty old professors when I quote from it in OE? :)