7.531, Disc: Grammatical gender and feminism, Gender switching

Wed Apr 10 22:47:09 UTC 1996

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-7-531. Wed Apr 10 1996. ISSN: 1068-4875. Lines:  163

Subject: 7.531, Disc: Grammatical gender and feminism, Gender switching

Moderators: Anthony Rodrigues Aristar: Texas A&M U. <aristar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
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                   Ann Dizdar <dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu>
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Editor for this issue: dizdar at tam2000.tamu.edu (Ann Dizdar)

---------------------------------Directory-----------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 01 Apr 1996 11:42:09 +0400
From:  lotofil at tversu.ac.ru ("Jurij R. Lotoshko")
Subject:  Disc: Grammatical gender and feminism

2)
Date:  Wed, 03 Apr 1996 09:17:26 GMT
From:  DWILMSEN at auc-acs.eun.eg
Subject:  RE: 7.484, Misc: Ungrammatical sentences, Gender switching

---------------------------------Messages------------------------------------
1)
Date:  Mon, 01 Apr 1996 11:42:09 +0400
From:  lotofil at tversu.ac.ru ("Jurij R. Lotoshko")
Subject:  Disc: Grammatical gender and feminism

Disc: Grammatical gender and feminism
linguist at tamvm1.tamu.edu">Public response to the list

     The reason of discussion "Grammatical gender & feminism"  has
caused  in  my  memory  one  characters from the Gribojedov's play
'Gorje ot uma'  ("Trouble  from  mind",  A.Gribojedov  is  Russian
writer  --  1794-1824),  which  offered  "to collect all books and
burn".
     Language is such substation,  which does not suffer violence.
Language accepts only the fact,  that  it  is  necessary  for  the
people, which on it speaks, which uses it for communications.
     Category of gender is one of the  most  remarkabl,  wonderful
grammatical categories in Slavic language.  The category of gender
is     connected      with      the      grammatical      category
animateness/unanimateness   (about   it   already  was  marked  in
discussion on  example  of   italian   language   and   see   'The
Gender-Animacy Hypothesis' JSL 3(1): 13-58, 1995).
     However in  discussion  not  yet  spoke   about   factor   of
development  and  continuity of language (recoll sanskrit,  latin,
ancient greek).
     In Russian  language,  as well as in majority of other Slavic
languages,  exists three grammatical genders  -  masc.,  fem.  and
neuter.  Besides  that,  in  Russian language there are words of a
general(common) gender,  that are words,  which can correspond  to
man and to female (starosta,  nerjaha, grjaznulja, prostofilja and
etc.).
     'ommon for slavs words in different Slavic languages can con-
cern to different gender,  for example the word 'knjaz' in Russian
language is  a  word  of a masc.  gender,  and in Chechen language
'knize' is included into special category words of neuter gender.
     In Russian language words of neuter gender have not a gramma-
tical category animateness.  In Chechen language the category ani-
mateness is conected only with masc.  gender,  and  when  I  speak
girl-students,  that  in  Chechen  language they are understood as
unanimateness objects,  it causes only some fun. The grammatic ca-
tegories of gender and animateness not influence of beauty and ap-
peal Czech girls and women.
     In Russian language from point of grammar the word "pokojnik"
('dead person') is  perceived  as  animateness  object,  and  word
"trup" ('corpse') as unanimateness. Both words are masc. gender.
     The grammatical  category  of  gender  in Russian language on
speech level can be displayed differently. Thus necessary to take
into account specific situations,  factors, determining the act of
the communications. Not the expert of native language or foreigner
can note these facts, and not correctly to interpete them.
     For example,  take a usual situation - doctor is woman
   The patient in dialogue can say:
   'vypisal lekarstva' (has made out medicines) - it  meants  that
                              the  official position of the given
                              woman in society  is  on  the  first
                              place;
   'vypisala lekarstva' - it meants that sexual attribute on the
                          first place and plus other means.
      As seem,  the switching of a  grammatic  gender  in  Russion
depends  on  that,  if  we  want to emphasize the social status or
sexual attribute.
     In Chechen  language  social  referens  and  referens  sexual
attribute can be fixed on level of  derivation,  for  example,  in
Chechen  language  there are word filolog(he)) and filolozjka(she).
In Russian language also exists such  derivatoin  model  (noga  --
nozjka), but it does not allow format the words of a female gender
with attribute of the person from words  of  a  masc.  gender.  In
Russion  word  'filolog'  can  used  in situation as in English --
'She/He good  filolog'.  And  when  I   name(call)   girl-students
'filolozjkami', --  it  causes  them laughter.  The fact,  that is
allowable in one language, is inadmissible in other.
     In Russian  linguistics there are many publications connected
with  history  of  development  and  functioning   this   wondeful
grammatical  category  of  gender  as on the level of standartized
language,  that and the level of oral speech (spooken Russion) and
on  the  level  of  dialects (govor) 'krasivyj polotenec'(stand.--
'krasivoje polotence' (beautiful towel).
     So, '2 kopejki' is historizm  and  'sto  rublej  n'e  den'gi'
(= one hundred rubles is not  money).

Russia
170002
Tver
pr. Chajkovskego, 70
Tver university
Faculty of Russian language
Lotoshko Jurij Rostislavovic
The candidate of philological sciences,
senior lecturer

Home ad.

Russia
170041
Tver
b. Shmidta d. 47. kv. 84
Lotoshko J.R.

P.S. Pay attention to accepted order of lines in Russion address,
     it can serve as object of discussion for sociolingvists and
     psycholingvists.
P.P.S. The text was transformed from Russion to English by computer
       program, so... excuse me for my and computers mistakes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2)
Date:  Wed, 03 Apr 1996 09:17:26 GMT
From:  DWILMSEN at auc-acs.eun.eg
Subject:  RE: 7.484, Misc: Ungrammatical sentences, Gender switching

about gender switching, which i am calling cross-addressing in a paper
that i will be givning at the colloquium on arabic grammar and
linguistics at university of edinburgh in august, it is found in
egyptain colloquial arabic, or at least in the cairene varieities,
probably elsewhere in egypt too.

reverse gender reference is used in addressing children of either sex
and it is used among adults as a means of establishing, mmaintaining
and expressing initmacy; in protecting or concealing the identity of
the referee or the referent; in banter with same-sex cohorts; and in
coarse joking about members of the opposite sex.  it looks like the
phenomenon has its origin in baby talk.  some women informants
maintain that they use it amongst themselves deliberately to level the
status differences between men and women.

according to correspondents,the same thing occurs in modern hebrew, at least
where expressing intimacy is concerned.

david wilmsen
director, arabic and translation studies division
center for adult and continuing education
american university in cairo
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