Zauriel
The Angel of Justice
- Messages
- 121
- Reaction score
- 22
- Points
- 0
- Ethnic group
- Chinese
Are the languages obsolete and sexist? And should they be modified?
French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Romanian are gendered languages that assign genders to pronouns, nouns, verbs, adjectives and articles. English also uses gendered nouns: actor/actress, etc. English pronouns encode gender, as well. French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian fall under a category called Romance languages.
I don?ft consider these languages sexist but I find them very obsolete and clumsy to use. How will you assign a gender to an asexual, a transsexual or a hermaphrodite? How will you assign a gender to a stranger that hides their gender?
Remember the Star Trek: Enterprise episode ?gCogenitor?h? That introduces us to a three-sexed race. What if there is a species that has a third gender? If we bi-gendered humans were to meet a tri-gendered alien race or a mono-gendered one, what gender will you apply to them?
French definite articles of ?gthe?h
Le- masculine
La- feminine
Spanish definite articles of ?gthe?h
El- masculine
La- feminine
Italian definite articles of ?gthe?h
Il- masculine
La- feminine
German definite articles of ?gthe?h
Der- masculine
Die- feminine
Das- neuter
There are a few genderless languages such as Tagalog.
In Tagalog, pronouns and nouns, even of family do not encode gender.
Siya- he/she/it
Tagalog- English
Bata- child/boy/girl
Kapatid- sibling/brother/sister
Anak- child/son/daughter
Pinsan- male cousin/female cousin
Asawa- spouse/husband/wife
Pamangki-nephew/niece
In order to specify the individual?fs gender, you simply say anak na lalaki (son) or anak na babae (daughter). In Tagalog, lalaki means male and babae means female.
However, Tagalog does have gendered nouns like Kuya (older brother) and Ate (older sister). Both of them are similar to Japanese titles of "onii-chan" and "Onee-san". Like English and Romance languages, Tagalog also uses gendered titles such as ginoo (sir) and ginang (ma'am).
However, Japanese honorifics are genderless. -san, -sama, -senpai and -sensei apply to both males and females.
English honorifics:
Mister
Mrs.
Miss
Ms.
French honorifics:
Monsieur (male)
Madamesoille (non-married female)
Madame (married female)
Spanish honorifics:
Senor
Senorita (non-married female)
Senora (married female)
Italian honorifics:
Signor
Signorita (non-married female)
Signora (married female)
German honorifics:
Herr
Frau
Fraulein
French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Romanian are gendered languages that assign genders to pronouns, nouns, verbs, adjectives and articles. English also uses gendered nouns: actor/actress, etc. English pronouns encode gender, as well. French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian fall under a category called Romance languages.
I don?ft consider these languages sexist but I find them very obsolete and clumsy to use. How will you assign a gender to an asexual, a transsexual or a hermaphrodite? How will you assign a gender to a stranger that hides their gender?
Remember the Star Trek: Enterprise episode ?gCogenitor?h? That introduces us to a three-sexed race. What if there is a species that has a third gender? If we bi-gendered humans were to meet a tri-gendered alien race or a mono-gendered one, what gender will you apply to them?
French definite articles of ?gthe?h
Le- masculine
La- feminine
Spanish definite articles of ?gthe?h
El- masculine
La- feminine
Italian definite articles of ?gthe?h
Il- masculine
La- feminine
German definite articles of ?gthe?h
Der- masculine
Die- feminine
Das- neuter
There are a few genderless languages such as Tagalog.
In Tagalog, pronouns and nouns, even of family do not encode gender.
Siya- he/she/it
Tagalog- English
Bata- child/boy/girl
Kapatid- sibling/brother/sister
Anak- child/son/daughter
Pinsan- male cousin/female cousin
Asawa- spouse/husband/wife
Pamangki-nephew/niece
In order to specify the individual?fs gender, you simply say anak na lalaki (son) or anak na babae (daughter). In Tagalog, lalaki means male and babae means female.
However, Tagalog does have gendered nouns like Kuya (older brother) and Ate (older sister). Both of them are similar to Japanese titles of "onii-chan" and "Onee-san". Like English and Romance languages, Tagalog also uses gendered titles such as ginoo (sir) and ginang (ma'am).
However, Japanese honorifics are genderless. -san, -sama, -senpai and -sensei apply to both males and females.
English honorifics:
Mister
Mrs.
Miss
Ms.
French honorifics:
Monsieur (male)
Madamesoille (non-married female)
Madame (married female)
Spanish honorifics:
Senor
Senorita (non-married female)
Senora (married female)
Italian honorifics:
Signor
Signorita (non-married female)
Signora (married female)
German honorifics:
Herr
Frau
Fraulein