Dog of the Day

[Rob C]

I'll fool myself into thinking that that's a genuine question, Russ, and answer: neuter. Interestingly, bearing in mind Rob's reply, German babies are neuter (der Mann, die Frau, das Baby).
Well, that's 90% of my knowledge of German on display. I hope it's correct.

Jeremy

Any word yet on the adults, Jeremy? We have Claudia, we have Karl... there's another whose name escapes me for the moment... no! he's Swiss.

Rob C

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Jeremy is right (about 'neuter,' that is). In German “the knife” is “Das Messer” (neuter); “the fork” is “die Gabel” (feminine), and “the spoon” is “der Löffel” (masculine). And contrary to conventions in some other languages, the Sun in German is feminine, while the Moon is masculine.

French has its own peculiarities (for English speakers, at least), since there is no way to refer to "it," only to "her" or "him."

And, yes, the German baby is "das Kind" (neuter).

Eric

[Jeremy Roussak]

Jeremy is right (about 'neuter,' that is). In German “the knife” is “Das Messer” (neuter); “the fork” is “die Gabel” (feminine), and “the spoon” is “der Löffel” (masculine). And contrary to conventions in some other languages, the Sun in German is feminine, while the Moon is masculine.

French has its own peculiarities (for English speakers, at least), since there is no way to refer to "it," only to "her" or "him."

And, yes, the German baby is "das Kind" (neuter).

Eric

"Kind" is "child", isn't it? "Baby" is "baby". Still more curiously, as I dimly recall, a young girl is also neuter (das Mädchen).

Jeremy

[RSL]

For some reason combining "knife" and "neuter" sends chills down my spine.

[Rob C]

For some reason combining "knife" and "neuter" sends chills down my spine.

Woof, woof, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

Rob C

[Eric Kellerman]

For such a tiny industrialised country, the Netherlands does rather well in the language/dialect stakes. It actually has two official languages, Dutch and Frisian, and loads of dialects. The Limburg group of dialects is recognised as a regional language, though it spreads over into Belgium and Germany as well. Dutch has two grammatical genders, common and neuter. English, on the other hand, has natural gender. In English, masculine humans are 'he' and feminine ones are 'she'. Simple. Animals we are fond of can be promoted to human status, depending on their sex. Ditto babies. Inanimate objects are virtually always neuter (it).* All these distinctions are neutralised in the plural (they). Learning grammatical gender in another language is a headache for Anglophones, as the system (haha) seems irrational. And even within groups of related languages there are inconsistencies: French la mer (the sea, feminine), Spanish el mar (masculine). How nice to learn a language like Japanese, where there is no article system, and where adjectives do not inflect according to the gender of the accompanying noun.

*Ships, cars and other machines some males are emotionally attached may be 'she'.

[Rob C]

For such a tiny industrialised country, the Netherlands does rather well in the language/dialect stakes. It actually has two official languages, Dutch and Frisian, and loads of dialects. The Limburg group of dialects is recognised as a regional language, though it spreads over into Belgium and Germany as well. Dutch has two grammatical genders, common and neuter. English, on the other hand, has natural gender. In English, masculine humans are 'he' and feminine ones are 'she'. Simple. Animals we are fond of can be promoted to human status, depending on their sex. Ditto babies. Inanimate objects are virtually always neuter (it).* All these distinctions are neutralised in the plural (they). Learning grammatical gender in another language is a headache for Anglophones, as the system (haha) seems irrational. And even within groups of related languages there are inconsistencies: French la mer (the sea, feminine), Spanish el mar (masculine). How nice to learn a language like Japanese, where there is no article system, and where adjectives do not inflect according to the gender of the accompanying noun.

*Ships, cars and other machines some males are emotionally attached may be 'she'.

Sorry to rock the boat - in Spanish, it is also sometimes la mar... nuttin' ain't easy! Make of that what you will!

Rob C

[Eric Kellerman]

It IS??? Thank you for some new knowledge What is it in Mallorquin, by the way? In any case, in Italian it's il mare.

[Rob C]

It IS??? Thank you for some new knowledge What is it in Mallorquin, by the way? In any case, in Italian it's il mare.

Mallorquin is a closed book to me when spoken, but I can get a reasonable interpretation from reading the posters in the doctor's waiting room - mixture of French, Spanish, Italian and, I suspect, Moorish traces from long ago. But the sound is quite unintelligible to my cloth ears. I think they say el mar, just to give the rest of us a false sense of security, the silly idea that we might be getting to grips with the thing.

Anyway, in Castilian: hablar de la mar equates with to attempt something impossible; correr con la mar en popa means to scud before the sea; hacerse a la mar means to put out to sea (these latter two, in nautical terms).

No wonder I try to keep a low profile and avoid local politics; could get myself hanged by mistake!

Rob C