valor 2005-10-9 20:21
A Brief Comparison on Gender of Four Different Kinds of Language:<br />Chinese, English, French and German<br /><br />If we draw a straight line and regard each language as a point on it, we could find that Latin and Chinese are located on each end of the straight line respectively. English and some other languages lie in between.<br />It is beyond question that there are no gender differences of Chinese words.<br />Gender in English is a category with more restricted overt marking. Nouns maybe divided into three main genders according to the inherent sex in the nature. For example: Names such as John, Michael are referred to by “he”. Names such as Mary, Tracy are referred to by “she”. Single animal and normal object are referred to by “it”. In English, all plural nouns forms are referred to by “they”. But in French we use “ils” and “elles” to express a masculine or mixed group and feminine group respectively. In English, there is also gender concord. However, it works in a very limited way. When we use reflexive pronouns, we should pay attention to gender concord. For example: He himself came here. We could not say like this: He herself or themselves come here for the reason that “he” matches “himself”, “she” matches “herself”, “it” matches “itself” and “they matches “themselves”.<br />It is very normal for us to find gender concord in French and German.<br />Firstly, let’s talk about French. In French, there are two kinds of gender, masculine and feminine.<br />I will give a clear explanation as follows:<br />1. In French, articles bear differences in gender. Accordingly, nouns also bear differences in gender, which can be clearly shown from the articles they use. <br />Masculine definite article: le<br />Feminine definite article: la<br />Masculine indefinite article: un<br />Feminine indefinite article: une<br />For example:<br />la (une) fille-----the (a) girl; la (une) la rivière -----the (a) river; le (un) chat-----the (a) cat; la (une) fleur-----the (a) flower.<br />(1) Some nouns have double gender, but have totally different meanings. <br />For example: le mémoire (the thesis); la mémoire (the memory)<br />(2)Some nouns in masculine gender can be changed into feminine gender by making simple morphological changes, such as add an alphabet in the end, etc.. For example: some nouns referred to professions and animals.<br />Profession<br />masculine: un boulanger (a male baker) feminine: une boulangère (a female baker);<br />masculine: un danseur (a male dancer)------une danseuse ( a female dancer);<br />Animal<br />cat<br />masculine: un chat<br />feminine: une chatte<br />tiger<br />masculine: un tigre<br />feminine: une tigresse<br />(3) Some nouns denoting professions only have masculine in gender.<br />For example:<br />un ingénieur (a engineer); un avocat (a lawyer) <br />If we want to express feminine in gender, we can put “femme” before the nouns.<br />For example: une femme ingénieur (a female engineer); une femme avocat (a female lawyer)<br />(4) The category of gender in French bears some relation to actual sex differences. In French, only two genders are formally distinguished, masculine and feminine, inanimate beings and abstractions must be referred to by nouns of one of the two genders. For example: le vent (the wind); la bontè (the mercy); la neige (the snow); le courage (the courage). In French, some animates whose sex is known are referred to by nouns of a non-corresponding gender. For example: sentinelle (guard) is feminine, though its reference is most often to a male being. Elephant (elephant) is always masculine in gender, and specifically to indicate a male or female elephant one must add an adjective, un èlephant male (a male elephant), un èlephant female (a female elephant). The indefinite article always bears masculine in gender, that is, “un”.<br />Generally speaking, the gender differences in French have no relation to the inherent sex of the things referred in the nature. For example: la fer (iron), le cuivre (copper) Why is “iron” in French a noun of feminine gender but “copper” a noun of masculine gender? No exact answer.<br />2. Adjectives and adverbs:<br />(1) In French, when we use adjectives or adverbs to modify a noun or adjectives, etc., we should pay attention to the gender concord. Generally speaking, there is no gender concord of adverbs, but some adverbs have gender concord.(to match the gender of the adjectives modified, at the same time, the gender of the adjectives are determined by that of the nouns or pronouns modified) For example: “tout” (very, extremely) in the following two sentences:<br />a. Elle est toute surprise. ( She is very surprise.)<br />b. Voilà un chapeau tout neuf. (Here is a totally new hat.) <br />(2) As for adjectives, gender concord (to match the gender of the nouns of pronouns modified) is very normal. <br />For example: petit (little)<br />un petit oiseau (a small bird); une peite fille (a little girl)<br />Sometimes, when modifying a noun of masculine gender and of feminine gender, some adjectives take the identical form. For example: l'équipement moderne (the modern equipement); la maison moderne ( the modern house). <br />3. Pronouns:<br />In French, pronouns also have gender concord. (to match the gender of the nouns)<br />For example: my ( three forms in French: mon, ma, mes)<br />mon vélo (my bike)-----masculine; ma valise (my handbag)-----feminine; <br />Another example: chacun (each) “chacun” is used in masculine or mixed group, “chacune” in feminine group. <br />chacun d’eux (each of them) Here “them” stands for a masculine or mixed group.<br />Chacune d’elles (each as them) Here “them” stands for a feminine group.<br />4.Verbs:<br />Gender concord in verbs is very complicate. Gender concord features in the sentences of composed tense. <br />(1) If the auxiliary is “avoir” and the direct object is put before a past participle, concord between a past participle and a direct object in gender is required. But if the direct object is “en”, then the past participle remains original. <br />For example:<br />La valise qu’il a achetée est très belle. (The handbag he bought is very beautiful.)<br />Here “la valise” is in feminine gender, therefore, an “e” is added at the end of “acheté”(achetée) to show this kind of gender concord.<br />(2) If the auxiliary is “être”, the gender of the subject will decide the concord of the gender.<br />For example:<br />a. Il est arrivé. ( He arrived.)<br />b. Elle est arrivée. (She arrived.)<br />Here if the subject is “il”(masculine), “arrive” is used. If the subject is “elle”(feminine), an “e” is added at the end of “arrivé”(arrive) to show this kind of gender concord.<br />Now let’s talk about German. In German, there are three kinds of gender, masculine, feminine and neuter. <br />I will also give a clear explanation as follows:<br />1. Nouns and articles:<br />In German, “ein”, “ein” and “eine” are put as indefinite articles before a noun. “ein” are put before a noun of masculine and neuter gender. “eine” are put before a noun of feminine gender. For example: ein Brief (a letter)-----masculine, eine Arbeiterin (a female worker)-----feminine, ein Auto (a car)-----neuter. Accordingly, definite articles “der”, “die”, “das”, “die” are put before a noun of masculine, feminine, neuter gender and plural respectively. For example: der Brief (the letter)-----masculine, die Arbeiterin (the female worker)-----feminine, das Auto (the car)-----neuter, <br />In German, some nouns in masculine gender also can be changed into feminine gender by making simple morphological changes, such as add an alphabet in the end, etc.. For example: der Arbeiter ( a male worker)------die Arbeiterin ( a female worker). Generally speaking, the gender differences in German have also no relation to the inherent sex of the things referred in the nature. For example: der Tisch (the desk), die Tafel (the blackboard), das Schwein (the pig) Why is “desk” in German a noun of feminine gender but “blackboard” a noun of masculine, “pig” a noun of neuter gender? No exact answer.<br />2. Adjectives and adverbs:<br />In German, there is no gender concord of adverbs. As for adjectives, gender concord(to match the gender of the nouns modified) is very normal. <br />For example: klein (little)<br />ein klein Vogel (a small bird)-----masculine; ein klein Land (a little land)-----neuter; eine kleine Tasche (a small handbag)<br />3. Pronouns:<br />In German, pronouns also have gender concord. (to match the gender of the nouns)<br />For example: my (four forms in German: mein, meine, mein, meine) <br />mein Buch (my book)-----masculine; mein Auto (my car)-----neuter; meine Tochter (my daughter);<br />4.Verbs:<br />In German, verbs don’t need to be changed to match the gender of the nouns or pronouns.<br />