TIS and gender
Sunuiprachu at cs.com
Sunuiprachu at cs.com
Tue Jun 20 19:44:38 EDT 2000
TIS is a case that reminds me of the theory that the original alignment of
nouns was not by gender but by animacy; that animate nouns were later
interpreted as masculine and inanimate as neuter; that feminine nouns were
tossed in later. Therefore, TIS may be regarded as being masculine as a
default setting for animate (in the same way that we use "cows" as a default
for cows and bulls, "chickens" for chickens and roosters etc." and "horses"
for horses and mares: try telling someone you passed a field of bulls!) but
not masculine vis-a-vis feminine. Comments on the theory I have just
mentioned will raise the ante on the original question.
Dan Monroe
Latin/Greek teacher
Marshfield High School
Coos Bay, OR
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