Question of gender and pets

[Robert Orr]

Please do share your replies!  And do check out Greville Corbett's agreement hierarchies, and match them to your data.

Sent from my iPad

On 2013-10-27, at 7:08 PM, Emily Saunders <emilka at MAC.COM> wrote:

> Thanks!  How about this hypothetical.  I own two dogs, both male.  If asked:  У тебя есть собака?  Would you be specific and answer:  У меня два кобеля (would you ever sаy пса?) Or would you say the generic у меня две собаки.
> 
> Thanks.  It seems straightforward, but I get this question asked a lot when students do introductory essays/blog posts about their family members and pets.  I call it the Это моя собака.  Его зовут Кинг.   dilemma.
> 
> I'd love a variety of opinions about when you would and when you would not specify the masculine gender of your pet.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Emily
> 
> On Oct 26, 2013, at 9:50 PM, Irina Shevelenko wrote:
> 
>> The conversation might go this way:
>> 
>> -- Это твоя собака? Как *ее* зовут?
>> -- Макс, это кобель (мальчик).
>> -- Сколько *ему* лет? 
>> -- Три.
>> 
>> In the household, the dog will go by name and will always be referred to with gender-appropriate personal and possessive pronouns.
>> 
>> Irina
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Emily Saunders
>> Sent: Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:58 PM
>> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
>> Subject: [SEELANGS] Question of gender and pets
>> 
>> Hello!
>> 
>> I'm about to introduce noun gender and pet vocabulary to my Beginning Russian students and I'm preparing for the inevitable question that will follow -- "If my dog is a boy and собака is feminine, do I say вот она, or её зовут, or..."  
>> 
>> And I've never been able to get an entirely satisfactory answer to the question of what you do when the default vocabulary word for a pet is feminine, but the actual pet is a male.  So hypothetically someone is asking about the name of your boy-собака:  Как её зовут? How do you respond?  Is there any etiquette to correct the gender assumption.  Do you treat your male-собака as grammatically feminine?  
>> 
>> I'd love a smattering of advice in how this is handled?  In English if someone asked about my male cat:  What's her name?  I'd respond simply, "His name is Jack."  Does the same hold true in Russian?  
>> 
>> Thanks in advance!
>> 
>> Emily Saunders
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