Great post! The Italians I’ve spoken to about gender don’t think about it the way you describe - it just is. You could just as well call them Type 1 and Type 2 nouns. Maybe some people are upset about it, but I haven’t met any. And while this isn’t quite an answer, most of the languages you speak are gendered because proto-Indo-European was.
I know that people don't think about it any more than we think about "highway" as being literally the high or main road. But it's still there, and you do have to think about it when you are choosing between il and elle (he and she) or ils and elles (they masculine and they feminine). I remember being jolted early on here in Lyon when I heard my stepdaughter say "elles" for her ears, realizing that it had never occurred to me that ears could be gendered.
This is why I want to learn Turkish, which has no gender at all (from what I understand), even for people. I wonder if speaking without gender changes the way you think about gender.
I love this post. And learning about the Polyglot Conference. How exciting. I love languages and guessing/recognising what I'm hearing someone speak etc, but am just a dabbler in languages...
Wonderful write-up! It was such a pleasure to meet you. I'll look forward to seeing you at next year's Gathering, if not before! We'll be in touch. 😊
I learn a lot about languages and it seems so easy to learn that I might try !
Great post! The Italians I’ve spoken to about gender don’t think about it the way you describe - it just is. You could just as well call them Type 1 and Type 2 nouns. Maybe some people are upset about it, but I haven’t met any. And while this isn’t quite an answer, most of the languages you speak are gendered because proto-Indo-European was.
I know that people don't think about it any more than we think about "highway" as being literally the high or main road. But it's still there, and you do have to think about it when you are choosing between il and elle (he and she) or ils and elles (they masculine and they feminine). I remember being jolted early on here in Lyon when I heard my stepdaughter say "elles" for her ears, realizing that it had never occurred to me that ears could be gendered.
This is why I want to learn Turkish, which has no gender at all (from what I understand), even for people. I wonder if speaking without gender changes the way you think about gender.
"la masculinité" is a fun one.
Yes, French seems particularly mixed up about this. Breasts are masculine, and so are both male and female genitals.
I love this post. And learning about the Polyglot Conference. How exciting. I love languages and guessing/recognising what I'm hearing someone speak etc, but am just a dabbler in languages...
Thanks Naomi. I loved it and I will definitely be attending again next year.