[Lexicog] gendered language references

[Fritz Goerling]

Hayim,

 

When God told patriarch Abraham to leave his country, relatives and his
father's house

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 Israel just as "ha erets" (as
their "homeland") or to the land of their fathers?

Is there any politically correct movement, like in the anglophone world,
among modern Hebrew speakers who avoid talking about "fathers" and prefer
"ancestors?"

 

Shalom,

 

Fritz

Dear Ken,

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.
The same relates to patrimonia. The problem with gender of these words lie
not with the language, but rather with the thought. On one hand, you may
explain 
that patria is the country of your forefathers and  foremothers and
patrimonia  is
the property (and legacy) of your forefathers and foremothers,  on the other
that
the roots of these words reflect reality of the patriarchal society, where
fathers were the "top" persons. 

--Hayim Sheynin

"Kenneth C. Hill" <kennethchill at yahoo.com> wrote:

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.

--Ken

saghar sharifi <saghar_sharifi at yahoo.com> wrote:

The answer to your question would be that in some languages, as in German,
the word " language " is feminine.

 

 Leman <wayne_leman at sil.org> wrote:

I'm wondering about English terms for kinds of languages:

Why do we speak of a mother tongue but not a father tongue?

Why do we speak of sister languages but not brother languages?

Why are there daughter languages but not son languages?

Why can we refer to both a motherland and a fatherland?

Do other languages use kinship terms to refer to language relationships?

Wayne
-----
Wayne Leman
Cheyenne dictionary online:
http://www11. <http://www11.asphost4free.com/cheyennedictionary/default.htm>
asphost4free.com/cheyennedictionary/default.htm

 


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