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I forgot to mention that eretz and ha-aretz (earth, country and this country, i.e.<br>  Palestine) is feminine in Hebrew, as names of all countries (cp. Latin  names of countries). Hebrew has only two genders, so for Hebrew  speakers there is only binary choice.<br>  <br>  Hayim<br><br><b><i>Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling@sil.org></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">          <!-- Network content -->                  <div id="ygrp-text">              <div>        <!-- Network content -->        </div><div class="Section1">    <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hayim,<o></o></span></font></div>  
  <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><o> </o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">When God told patriarch Abraham to leave  his country, relatives and his father’s house<o></o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">in Gen. 12:1, how is country (erets)  perceived by a native speaker of Hebrew? Is there any idea of “fatherland”  or “motherland” in modern Hebrew? When Jews make Aliya, do they  come back to <st1><st1>Israel</st1></st1>  just as “ha erets” (as their “homeland”) or to the land  of their fathers?<o></o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;
 color: black;">Is there any politically correct movement,  like in the anglophone world, among modern Hebrew speakers who avoid talking  about “fathers” and prefer “ancestors?”<o></o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><o> </o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">Shalom,<o></o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"><o> </o></span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="black" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">Fritz<o></o></span></font></div>    <div id="ygrp-mlmsg">    <div id="ygrp-msg">    <div id="ygrp-text">    <div><font face="Times New Roman"
 size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dear Ken,<br>  <br>  On the other hand, what is striking that Latin word patria is feminine. If you  can imagine a simile that you country like a mother for you, why patria even it  is derived etimologically from pater, cannot be  feminine.<br>  The same relates to patrimonia. The problem with gender of these words lie<br>  not with the language, but rather with the thought. On one hand, you may  explain <br>  that patria is the country of your forefathers and  foremothers and  patrimonia  is<br>  the property (and legacy) of your forefathers and foremothers,  on the  other that<br>  the roots of these words reflect reality of the patriarchal society, where  fathers were the "top" persons. <br>  <br>  --Hayim Sheynin<br>  <br>  <b><i><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">"Kenneth C.  Hill" <kennethchill@<wbr>yahoo.com></span></i></b> wrote:<o></o></span></font></div>    <blockquote
 style="border-left: 1pt solid rgb(16, 16, 255);"><!-- Network content -->    <div id="ygrp-text">    <div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Grammatical gender is an insufficient explanation. I find it striking  that in Spanish, the word for "fatherland" is grammatically feminine:  la patria. Patria is a Latin word derived from pat(e)r 'father' + the feminine  derivational suffix -ia.<br>  <br>  --Ken<br>  <br>  <b><i><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">saghar sharifi <saghar_sharifi@<wbr>yahoo.com></span></i></b>  wrote:<o></o></span></font></div>    </div>    <blockquote style="border-left: 1pt solid rgb(16, 16, 255);"><!-- Network content -->    <div id="ygrp-text">    <div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The answer to your question would be that in some languages, as in  German, the word " language " is
 feminine.<o></o></span></font></div>    </div>    <div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <o></o></span></font></div>    </div>    <div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> Leman  <wayne_leman@<wbr>sil.org></span></font></i></b> wrote:<o></o></div>    </div>    <blockquote style="border-left: 1pt solid rgb(16, 16, 255);"><!-- Network content -->    <div id="ygrp-text">    <div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I'm wondering about English terms for kinds of languages:<br>  <br>  Why do we speak of a mother tongue but not a father tongue?<br>  <br>  Why do we speak of sister languages but not brother languages?<br>  <br>  Why are there daughter languages but not son languages?<br>  <br>  Why can we refer to both a motherland and a
 fatherland?<br>  <br>  Do other languages use kinship terms to refer to language relationships?<br>  <br>  <st1><st1>Wayne</st1></st1><br>  -----<br>  <st1>Wayne Leman</st1><br>  <st1><st1>Cheyenne</st1></st1>  dictionary online:<br>  <a href="http://www11.asphost4free.com/cheyennedictionary/default.htm">http://www11.<wbr>asphost4free.<wbr>com/cheyennedict<wbr>ionary/default.<wbr>htm</a><o></o></span></font></div>    </div>    </div>    </blockquote>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o> </o></span></font></div>    <!--End group email -->    <div>    <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="#666666" face="Times New Roman" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">    <hr align="center" size="1" width="100%">    </span></font></div>    <div class="MsoNormal"><font color="#666666" face="Times New Roman" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color:
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