LL-L: "Gender" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 22.JUL.1999 (03)

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 22.JUL.1999 (03) * ISSN 1089-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Josh Dillon [josh.dillon at hetnet.nl]
Subject: borrowed words of French origin in Dutch

Hello, all.

As a relatively new member of this list, I am somewhat unsure if my
question applies to the group or if it has previously been covered.  If so,
I would greatly appreciate any reference to the archives or to any other
reference material, for that matter, which might shed some light on this
topic.

As a student of Dutch, I have become acquainted with a great number of
French loan words, many of which, I gather, were introduced into Dutch
around the Napoleonic era.  It has been my experience with other languages
that when nouns are borrowed, their gender in the original language is
usually retained (e.g., French loan words in German).  I have often been
surprised, however, to learn of what I would consider "gender
discrepencies" with these words in Dutch, French possessing no neuter-noun
category.  The more I come across French loan words in Dutch, the more I
notice a tendency for them to take "het" in the singular (e.g., "het"
terras, "het" creatuur), although this is not always the case  ("de"
manier, "de" cultuur).  Would anyone happen to know when these words were
assigned their "new" gender, by whom, and / or why?  Thanks.

Met vriendelijke groeten,
Josh

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