"gender neutral pronouns"

[Olga Meerson]

German does not count--just as Russian does not: they both have a gender affixed to ANY noun. 
o.m.

----- Original Message -----
From: Francoise Rosset <frosset at WHEATONMA.EDU>
Date: Friday, September 5, 2008 8:12 pm
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] "gender neutral pronouns"

> On Fri, 5 Sep 2008 14:36:17 -0700
> > Did Germans ever use she/her for the Vaterland?
> 
> In German it depends on the primary noun, das Land. So it's DAS 
> liebe 
> Vaterland, DAS Mutterland, and they would have to both take the 
> pronoun "es." Deutschland as well, and if you wanted to go feminine 
> you could always use Die Heimat (but then there are those songs 
> about 
> the Heimatland: "Lieb' Heimatland, ade")
> 
> But I'd love to see an actual expert tells us whether they ever 
> used a 
> feminine pronoun, which is what Jules really asked. The combination 
> of 
> a neuter -Land with the masculine Vater- and a feminine pronoun 
> boggles the grammatical mind.
> -FR
>  
> 
> Francoise Rosset, Associate Professor
> Chair, Russian and Russian Studies
> Coordinator, German and Russian
> Wheaton College
> Norton, Massachusetts 02766
> Office: (508) 285-3696
> FAX:   (508) 286-3640
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> Use your web browser to search the archives, control your 
> subscription  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS 
> Web Interface at:
>                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> 
> 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------