Re: R: Re: gender in English

Marcus wrote:

>  For example, Death might typically be male in our
> >literature, but that's more tradition than the language. If I were to
> >write a story with Death as a female, it wouldn't be the traditional
> >personification, but it is still perfectly acceptible in our language.
>
> I did this for a Creative Writing course a few years back.  The prof.
loved
> it.  Lots of comments/praise for breaking with tradition and being, well,
> creative.
>
Well, in Italy it wouldn't be absolutuely original. If I'd say the Death is
a man, THAT would be original, since in Romance langs Death is feminine (it.
la morte, sp. la muerte, fr. la mort, port.*a morte). Another exemple of how
language can modify culture?

Luca