XXIX. NOUNS: GENDER
107. One of the characteristics of living things is sex; that is, all living things are male or female. Many nouns that are names of living things indicate sex. The noun king indicates the male sex. The noun queen indicates the female sex. The property of a noun by which it indicates the sex of the object named is called gender.
108. Since there are two sexes, there must be at least two genders. Nouns that indicate the male sex are said to be of the masculine gender; as, hero, grandfather.
Nouns that indicate the female sex are said to be of the feminine gender; as, hen, tigress, sister.
Note that sex, male or female, refers to a distinction, or difference, in the living creatures themselves, while gender is merely a property of their names that shows this distinction. It is absurd, therefore, to speak of a person of the masculine gender, but it is allowable to speak of masculine qualities, masculine attire, a masculine voice, etc.
109. Since things without life have no sex, the nouns that name such things have no gender; as, sky, tent, pie. Such words are said to be of the neuter gender. Neuter means neither.
110. Some nouns that may be applied to persons of either male or female sex are said to be of common gender; as, child, cousin, parent, clerk.
111. Gender is denoted in three ways:—
(1) By a pair of words; as, man, woman; bull, cow; lad, lass.
(2) By inflection, that is, by adding a syllable to the masculine noun to form the feminine; as, hero, heroine; lion, lioness; host, hostess.
What can you say of the words widow and widower?
(3) By prefixing a word whose gender is well known; as, bull moose, maidservant, she bear.
Note. —Some feminine nouns are going out of use. We no longer use the words poetess or authoress. If a woman preaches, she is a minister; if she practices medicine, she is a doctor, not a “lady doctor.”
Summary.—Gender is that property of a noun which indicates the sex or non-sex of the object named.
There are four genders:—
A noun of the masculine gender indicates the male sex.
A noun of the feminine gender indicates the female sex.
A noun of the neuter gender indicates the absence of sex.
A noun of common gender may indicate either the male or the female sex.
Gender is denoted (1) by different words, (2) by inflection, (3) by prefixing some gender word.
Exercise.—Tell the gender of each noun in the following sentences. Tell how its gender is denoted. If you are in doubt about any word, consult the dictionary.
1. The she wolf lay agonizing in the darkest corner of the cave, licking in grim silence the raw stump of her right foreleg.
2. The wild goose winging at the head of the V knew of good feeding grounds near by, which he was ready to revisit.
3. Not vague was the fear of the brooding grouse in the far-off thicket, though the sound came to her but dimly.
4. At the captain’s signal the Seabird came alongside, and Mr. Wintermute left Mrs. Howe and her little family to go on their journey alone.
5. Having sniffed the air for several minutes, without discerning anything to interest him, the great bull moose bethought him of his evening meal.
6. Here on the ridge a buck, with his herd of does and fawns, has established his winter “yard.”
7. Without a second’s hesitation the cow flung up her tail, gave a short bellow, and charged the bear.
8. Another thing that attracts attention is the animals tethered here, there, and everywhere. You see donkeys, goats, cows, even cats, hens, and turkeys, confined by the inevitable tether.
9. Never before since the nestlings broke the shell had her mate been so long away.
10. The pupils never entered the study except upon the most formal occasions.
11. A fine cock grouse alighted on a log some forty paces distant, stretched himself, strutted, spread his ruff and wings and tail, and was about to begin drumming.
12. Pedestrians walk where they will, here, there, or yonder.
13. Several men-of-war, with a multitude of smaller craft, are at anchor in Grassy Bay, and the admiral’s ship is lying on the great floating dock for repairs.
14. Some civilians are buried here, and many little children; and I came upon a pathetic memorial to a fair young English wife, who followed her soldier husband hither with her little child, only to die on these far-off shores.
15. Any animal that had died from natural causes the wolves would not touch, and they even rejected anything that had been killed by the stockmen. Their choice and daily food was the tenderer part of a freshly killed yearling heifer. An old bull or cow they disdained, and though they occasionally took a young calf or colt, it was quite clear that veal or horseflesh was not their favorite diet. It was also known that they were not fond of mutton, although they often amused themselves by killing sheep.