[Ads-l] locomotives as female

[Jonathan Lighter]

Latin "navis" is feminine too; but in that system no one could have thought
much of it.

The same goes for Hellenic "naûs " and hypothesized PIE "*néh₂us" - the
latter according to Wiktionary.

OE "scip," however, was neuter.

JL

On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 12:17 PM, Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
> Subject:      Re: locomotives as female
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 4/21/15 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> > Date:    Mon, 20 Apr 2015 17:20:25 -0400
> > From:    Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: locomotives as female
> >
> > OED's earliest "she" for a ship is from Barbour's_Bruce_  of 1375.
> >
> > JL
> Thanks for doing my homework for me. :-) That early does surprise me.
>
> ---Amy West
>
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