Comments on: gender reassignment http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/ Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:08:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: OJ http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-217 OJ Wed, 06 Oct 2004 09:33:38 +0000 http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-217 Ohh I remember my (beginners') French classes at uni - not only could I not work out noun genders (who cares if a ship is a he or a she!), I couldn't even pronounce "un" and "une" properly, which used to drive our teacher up the wall! So much so that he left us after a term to go back to his degree-level students, and we got someone who taught French at kindergarten level :-) These days (the BF's mother is French so we go over regularly) I just steamroll my way through, caring nought for genders or tenses - and I'm sure I get away with it because I'm "foreign" and therefore not expected to know better! Ohh I remember my (beginners’) French classes at uni - not only could I not work out noun genders (who cares if a ship is a he or a she!), I couldn’t even pronounce “un” and “une” properly, which used to drive our teacher up the wall!

So much so that he left us after a term to go back to his degree-level students, and we got someone who taught French at kindergarten level :-)

These days (the BF’s mother is French so we go over regularly) I just steamroll my way through, caring nought for genders or tenses - and I’m sure I get away with it because I’m “foreign” and therefore not expected to know better!

]]> By: petite anglaise http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-182 petite anglaise Sat, 02 Oct 2004 16:04:07 +0000 http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-182 Don't get me started on german. They went and 'reformed' their spellings and removed all the umlauts to fox me... Don’t get me started on german. They went and ‘reformed’ their spellings and removed all the umlauts to fox me…

]]> By: heather http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-173 heather Sat, 02 Oct 2004 09:23:39 +0000 http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-173 Ah and I have the fun of German which has three genders and confusingly a young woman Maedchen is das - neuter. A skirt is masculine - couple this with the Swiss German dialect and I find it easier to just point at things and grunt. Ah and I have the fun of German which has three genders and confusingly a young woman Maedchen is das - neuter. A skirt is masculine - couple this with the Swiss German dialect and I find it easier to just point at things and grunt.

]]> By: madge http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-172 madge Sat, 02 Oct 2004 08:10:30 +0000 http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-172 liam, don't try portuguese then, it's got more diminutives than you could shake a (masculine) stick at. though generally they keep their gender once diminished(?!) there are dozens of potential endings that anyone can put on ANYTHING (nouns, adverbs, adjectives) at will that make absolutely no sense to anyone but themselves - obrigi<strong>dinha</strong> pelos livr<strong>inhos</strong> para a minha peque<strong>note</strong>, Ela é mà <strong>zona</strong> e um boca<strong>dinho</strong> rabugent<strong>ita</strong> mas este livro lind<strong>íssimo</strong> tem dentro umas pern<strong>ocas</strong> bonit<strong>inhas</strong> - (that made no sense after the first line, but hey, I make it up as I go along) ;) apologies to anyone portuguese reading that thinking, "jeez...she will have to be expelled from the country. liam, don’t try portuguese then, it’s got more diminutives than you could shake a (masculine) stick at. though generally they keep their gender once diminished(?!) there are dozens of potential endings that anyone can put on ANYTHING (nouns, adverbs, adjectives) at will that make absolutely no sense to anyone but themselves - obrigidinha pelos livrinhos para a minha pequenote, Ela é mà zona e um bocadinho rabugentita mas este livro lindíssimo tem dentro umas pernocas bonitinhas - (that made no sense after the first line, but hey, I make it up as I go along) ;)
apologies to anyone portuguese reading that thinking, “jeez…she will have to be expelled from the country.

]]> By: Liam http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-156 Liam Fri, 01 Oct 2004 07:35:04 +0000 http://www.petiteanglaise.com/archives/2004/09/28/gender-issues_2/#comment-156 I sympathize will you entirely, those genders should ne abolished. I have had a similar experience speaking Dutch - which curiously boasts a vast number of diminuti ves (e.g. a cup <i>kop</i> becomes a cuppie <i>kopje</i>). This is only found with proper nouns in English, I think. Each diminutive takes the <i>neutral</i> form. Dutch is so weird that it doesn't even sound incongruous. Maybe French has something equally wonderful to offer. It's also well worth trying to categorize the damn things. It might be, for example, that nearly all animals have the same gender. But hey, how about some EU-wide legislation for the simplification of European languages - shouldn't we be thinking in the longer term? I sympathize will you entirely, those genders should ne abolished. I have had a similar experience speaking Dutch - which curiously boasts a vast number of diminuti ves (e.g. a cup kop becomes a cuppie kopje). This is only found with proper nouns in English, I think. Each diminutive takes the neutral form. Dutch is so weird that it doesn’t even sound incongruous. Maybe French has something equally wonderful to offer. It’s also well worth trying to categorize the damn things. It might be, for example, that nearly all animals have the same gender.

But hey, how about some EU-wide legislation for the simplification of European languages - shouldn’t we be thinking in the longer term?

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