LL-L: "Gender" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 22.JUL.1999 (08)

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 22.JUL.1999 (08) * ISSN 1089-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Urban Lindqvist [urban.lindqvist at telia.com]
Subject: LL-L: "Gender" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 22.JUL.1999 (03)

> From: Josh Dillon [josh.dillon at hetnet.nl]
> Subject: borrowed words of French origin in Dutch
>
> 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).
> 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.

Nope, but you might want to take a look at _Language History, Language
Change, and Language Relationsship_ by H. H. Hock and B. D. Joseph, 1996
(ISBN 3-11-014784-X), pp. 266-269, where there's a brief discussion of some
general tendencies as regards gender assignment of borrowings (+ some
further references).

Urban

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