37.1230, Books: Gender Alternation in Ambiguous Spanish Nouns: Núñez Méndez (2026)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1230. Fri Mar 27 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1230, Books: Gender Alternation in Ambiguous Spanish Nouns: Núñez Méndez (2026)

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Date: 23-Mar-2026
From: Ulrich Lueders [contact at lincom.eu]
Subject: Gender Alternation in Ambiguous Spanish Nouns: Núñez Méndez (2026)


Title: Gender Alternation in Ambiguous Spanish Nouns
Subtitle: Historical Overview
Series Title: LINCOM Studies in Romance Linguistics 90
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Lincom GmbH
           https://lincom-shop.eu/
Book URL:
https://lincom-shop.eu/epages/57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F57709feb-b889-4707-b2ce-c666fc88085d%2FProducts%2F%22ISBN%209783969392751%22

Author(s): Eva Núñez Méndez; Portland State University

17x24 cm. ISBN 9783969392751 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Romance
Linguistics 90. 104pp. 2026. EUR 98.00.

Abstract:

This volume offers an overview of the major historical changes in
ambiguously gendered Spanish nouns. Starting with gendered Latin
cases, it analyzes gender transformation patterns in Spanish. By
focusing on those nouns that do not show the consistent suffixal –o/–a
alternation for masculine and feminine, this book studies the
irregularities and distinctions which made these nouns unique from the
perspective of grammatical gender. Why certain inanimate nouns like
mano or día did not conform to the typical binary word endings of
–o/–a is the point of departure for this research.
It also studies the evolution of gender hybridism in inanimate nouns
that have kept both the masculine and feminine forms due to
evolutionary reasons, such as el arte/las artes, el/la almíbar, el/la
azúcar, los/las lentes, el/la mar, el/la pringue, among others. By
reviewing modern gender variations in words such as bombillo/bombilla,
cerillo/cerilla, manito/manita, moño/moña, sabático/sabática, el/la
armazón, el/la interrogante, el/la maratón, el/la parálisis, el/la
pijama, el/la quiche, el/la sartén, el/la sauna, el/la tanga, el/la
vodka, this volume examines how important regional and sociolinguistic
layers intersect to explain cross-dialectal alternation of gender in
nouns.
This research aims to present the history of the alternation of these
variants with masculine/feminine ambiguity that the Royal Spanish
Academy (RAE) itself has described in its modern dictionary editions.

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics

Subject Language(s): Spanish (spa)

Written In: English (eng)



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