Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: The Birds and the Bees of Gender

From:FFlores <fflores@...>
Date:Wednesday, March 31, 1999, 1:33
Michael Mouatt <arcangel@...> wrote:

> Could someone please explain gender to me (as it relates to language). I > just can't seem to understand the necessity of verb - noun agreement. > Doesn't it just add a whole stratum of complexity?
It does so only for L2 learners, not to native speakers, as I see it. As a Spanish speaker, I've never had any difficulty in "remembering" the gender of any noun, because it's been there all the time and I feel it as part of the word.
> Why must there really > be a 'le' and a 'la' in French?
It doesn't have to be, but it is. As many have pointed out, it's not a matter of necessity but of semi-random evolution.
> English is an asexual language, isn't > it? Why is this so if it is a Germanic language with influences from > French?
English is *genderless* (except for the third person singular pronouns). I don't know why most European langs have gender while English doesn't -- it must be because of the same changes that made the case inflections disappear. --Pablo Flores * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. Lily Tomlin