la leche
Rick Mc Callister
rmccalli at sunmuw1.MUW.Edu
Thu Feb 1 14:28:56 UTC 2001
One of our colleagues wrote about the use of neuters in Spanish for
collectives --as described in a grammar book. At the time it didn't make
sense but the book may have been referring to a phenomenon in Spanish in
which --in a very few cases-- the masculine is used for a specific and the
feminine for the generic.
e.g. madero "log, tree trunk"; madera "wood (the material)"
leño (len~o) "a piece of firewood"; leña (len~a) "firewood, wood"
There are also cases, more numerous, in which a masculine refers to
a smaller version of an object or to a different shape. These are subject
to lots of regional differences, however.
e.g. charco "mudpuddle"; charca "pool, pond" (there are regional
differences)
canasto "basket, hamper", canasta "large basket; clothes hamper"
(but there are regional differences)
cesto "small basket", cesta "basket"
Rick Mc Callister
W-1634
Mississippi University for Women
Columbus MS 39701
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