Re: ash nazg on my pinky because it's too small

On Mon, 16 Dec 2002 17:47:16 +0000 wayne chevrier
<wachevrier@...> writes:
> "Dan Sulani" nevesht:
> >     Or, again, being contemptuous!  :-) And, would it be worse to
> >intentionally use the wrong gender or to refer to the person with
> > a neutral gender? Under what conditions?
> >There can be all sorts of shades of contempt!
> One of my languages, Lisando(provisionally), has 5
> genders(1:supernatural,
> 2:dangerous, 3:edible, 4:domestic, 5:other). Men are gender 2,
> women,
> children and foreigners they dont respect are gender 4. Refering to
> a man in their hearing as gender 4 is a serious insult.
> -Wayne Chevrier
-

In Rokbeigalmki, referring to someone with the wrong gender (male/female)
is considered insulting, not because they believe one sex is superior,
but just because it's factually inaccurate - and nobody likes it when
something untrue is said about them.
Refering to someone with the common/epicene gender is considered not
insulting, but somewhat distancing.  Once you know someone's gender
you're expected to refer to them using it.  Not doing so relegates them
to something generic instead of an individual.
But, if you refer to someone using the neuter/inanimate gender, that's a
big insult.  The Rokbeigalm have a very "go with the flow" culture, but
they despise complete inactivity.  You're supposed to go with the flow,
but don't let it do all the work for you!  One of their most common rude
exclamations is |shahhwa!|, from |sha'hawa|, "what" in the direct-object
case.  Both the insulting use of the inanimate gender and |shahhwa!| go
back to the idea that you're supposed to be a living *acting* creature
and not some inanimate object that just gets *acted upon*.


-Stephen (Steg)
 "when the game of life makes you feel like quittin'
  it helps a lot if you kill a kitten...
  and if you need yarn for that scarf you're knittin'
  you'll get plenty when you kill a kitten..."
     ~ 'kill a kitten' by stephen lynch

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