Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/12/84; site mit-hermes.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg From: jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: Re: Re: Re: Gender-specific neuter pronouns Message-ID: <2288@mit-hermes.ARPA> Date: Mon, 4-Feb-85 12:41:33 EST Article-I.D.: mit-herm.2288 Posted: Mon Feb 4 12:41:33 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 9-Feb-85 06:07:44 EST References: <437@ptsfa.UUCP> <1285@bbncca.ARPA> <2285@mit-hermes.ARPA> <655@voder.UUCP> Organization: The MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA Lines: 18 > > Harrumph, harrumph. Then I'd expect that 'homo' would be of neuter gender, > > which Latin provides, but it's male. The "default sex" in Latin is male. > Gender in Latin is a grammatical category, not a sex. Examples are the > two feminine nouns `agricola' and `nauta' - farmer and sailor; these > nouns almost invariably described MEN. 'Nauta', 'agricola' and 'poeta' are all masculine. Their feminine form is just a grammmatical irregularity. Thus 'Poeta vetus'--The old poet. Replyers to my original posting don't seem to know any more about 'homo' than I did. In fact it is of "common" gender, that is, it is masculine or feminine depending on who is being described. But as I didn't quite say, masculine is the "default gender". How about 'Homines veti vetaeque'?--The old folks (of both sexes)? As for 'personne' in French, native French speakers assure me as everyone else has, that if you introduce your characters as 'personnes', they stay female.