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I don't know what you mean exactly, but genders can be something intrinsic to a language and I don't think they have been introduced as such. If you wanted to c

I don't know what you mean exactly, but genders can be something intrinsic to a language and I don't think they have been introduced as such. If you wanted to call a table in Italian, you could choose the masculine or feminine noun for it (tavolo - tavola), no neuter form though. Ask the table first.

a_imho 8y ago
Why would it be intrinsic? Somewhere in their evolution they must have been introduced for some reason I would guess. Also, they could be removed the same way if there is no benefit distinguishing between a masculine and feminine table.
- ivoras 8y ago
  Could it mean that gender was something so obvious and useful as a concept that early people, while trying to figure out the world around them and how it all fits together, just naturally extended the idea to just about everything? It doesn't really make sense to anthropomorphise things once you're an adult, but I bet everyone can remember trying to figure out the world as a kid and just assuming things are of similar nature as people. I think that even languages which currently don't have gender forms of words, like English, still have the concept psychologically firmly embedded in the culture. The generic "cat" is more female than male. The "tom-cat" is only male. A "rock", I'll bet, is also subconsciously male, and a "river" more female than male. It's all there, even if not explicit in language. OTOH, it's not really universal, different languages assign gender pretty much randomly - but they do assign it. Social determinism and radical neutrality go against the grain of this "making sense of the world" phase of development, and probably don't result in a practical world-view.
- raverbashing 8y ago
  I believe the intrinsicality of it has to do with alliterations/rhymes/rhythm (more in the vowel than in the consonantal sounds) Similar to effects of (past) umlauts in English or the a/an difference.
- Sharlin 8y ago
  PIE (Proto-Indo-European) was most likely a gendered language. So the concept goes deep into prehistory. English lost its gender system fairly recently, during the Middle English period.

a_imho 8y ago

Why would it be intrinsic? Somewhere in their evolution they must have been introduced for some reason I would guess. Also, they could be removed the same way if there is no benefit distinguishing between a masculine and feminine table.

ivoras 8y ago
Could it mean that gender was something so obvious and useful as a concept that early people, while trying to figure out the world around them and how it all fits together, just naturally extended the idea to just about everything? It doesn't really make sense to anthropomorphise things once you're an adult, but I bet everyone can remember trying to figure out the world as a kid and just assuming things are of similar nature as people. I think that even languages which currently don't have gender forms of words, like English, still have the concept psychologically firmly embedded in the culture. The generic "cat" is more female than male. The "tom-cat" is only male. A "rock", I'll bet, is also subconsciously male, and a "river" more female than male. It's all there, even if not explicit in language. OTOH, it's not really universal, different languages assign gender pretty much randomly - but they do assign it. Social determinism and radical neutrality go against the grain of this "making sense of the world" phase of development, and probably don't result in a practical world-view.
raverbashing 8y ago
I believe the intrinsicality of it has to do with alliterations/rhymes/rhythm (more in the vowel than in the consonantal sounds) Similar to effects of (past) umlauts in English or the a/an difference.
Sharlin 8y ago
PIE (Proto-Indo-European) was most likely a gendered language. So the concept goes deep into prehistory. English lost its gender system fairly recently, during the Middle English period.