Ask-A-Linguist Message Details
| Subject: | Gender in pronouns |
|---|---|
| Question: |
I wonder why some languages use different pronouns for different genders and why some don't. For example in English he and she differs from each other but both of them 3 person singular. But in Turkish just ''O'' is used for both male and female people. What is the reason of this difference. Can we define a principle depending on this difference for the social group that language belongs to. Let me express myself more clearly. I mean if a language of a nation uses different pronouns for males and females then that nation has this characteristics and if a language of nation does not have different pronouns for different genders then that nation has this characteristics. |
| Reply: |
I think it would be quite difficult to attempt to assign characteristics to nations on the basis of grammatical features of languages. What would you do, for example, in nations where different languages are used or, conversely, where the same language is used in different nations? Madalena |
| Reply From: | Madalena Cruz-Ferreira click here to access email |
| Date: | 25-May-2012 |
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