[Lexicog] Gender: Crazy English and the awful German language

[Fritz Goerling]

Steve,

 

Thanks for your wise gender-sensitive solutions like

"a man/woman would engender a movement" because

I cannot imagine that "a man mothers a movement"

will make it.;-)

 

Fritz


"Why is it that a woman can man a station but a man can't


woman one, that a man can father a movement but a woman


can't mother one, and that a king rules a kingdom but a queen


doesn't rule a queendom? "


What do they teach them in those lexicography schools these days?


The reason is that the metaphors or extended meanings of the verbs discard
the gender-specific aspects of the verb they are extending.


What really would be the semantic difference between fathering a movement
and mothering a movement? What would be the semantic difference between a
kingdom and a queendom? Not much, really.


Although maybe this is another argument for more gender inclusive English,


so a man/woman would person a station,


a man/woman would engender a movement,


a king/queen would rule a monarchdom (monarchy?).

Steve White, Jaars language software support
704-843-6337, 1-800-215-7813



  _____  

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lexicography/attachments/20060412/b76ae5c4/attachment.htm>