Languages and Culture genderless languages

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Firestorm, Aug 3, 2005.

  1. Firestorm

    Firestorm New Member

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    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's gender, you simply say anak na lalaki (son) or anak na babae (daughter). You say pinsang lalaki (male cousin) or pinsang babae (female cousin), batang lalaki (boy) or batang babae (girl)

    In Tagalog, lalaki means male and babae means female. ng and na are noun modifiers or linkers similar to the German modifiers. Ng connects with the noun that ends in a vowel or the consonant of "n". Na links with a noun that ends with a consonant.

    Lalaki ang kapatid (the sibling is male)
    Ang kapatid na lalaki (male sibling)

    Maganda Si Megan (Megan is beautiful)
    Magandang babae si Megan (She is a beautiful woman)
    babaeng maganda si Megan (She is a beautiful woman)

    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).
     
    #1
    Firestorm, Aug 3, 2005
  2. me_dreaming_zzz

    me_dreaming_zzz ¯\(º_o)/¯

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    Then... its not really genderless. Or, is there something im missing here?^^
     
    #2
    me_dreaming_zzz, Aug 3, 2005
  3. Kryshana

    Kryshana Dont try to understand me

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    yeah.......ok?!
     
    #3
    Kryshana, Aug 3, 2005
  4. Ciel

    Ciel Unoa Freak
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    guys.. -__-'

    French is a language of gender, for example. It goes way further than English and has gender and plural form agreements. I'm just going to run through it quickly. You'd have "un garçon", (a boy) and "une fille" (a girl) right off the bat there's a word differentiation between the two. But as well, there's the extra 'e' on 'un'

    There are also agreements that have to be made, for example,

    une belle fille. des belles filles.
    un beau garçon. des beaux garçons.
    une chemise blanche. un manteau blanc.

    What Firestorm is trying to say, is that Tagalog, a non-gendered language, has many words that refer to both genders, such as 'Pamangki' which refers to either niece or nephew, in english we don't have a word that refers to both of them, only 'niece' or 'nephew'. And that if a differentiation is needed, then, more words than one must be used.


    and Kryshana, if you are confused, I suggest you ask in a more proper manner or quit posting in the languages forum.
     
    #4
    Ciel, Aug 3, 2005
  5. me_dreaming_zzz

    me_dreaming_zzz ¯\(º_o)/¯

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    well, in English there are such words as "cousin" and "relative" which can be reffered to both female or male. Don't mind me, probably im missing something again... :eek:
    I just know that all words in Russian language have genders. Examples:
    derevo(tree)--it
    chashka(cup)--she
    stakan(glass)--he
    reka(river)--she
    golub(pigeon)--he
    kniga(book)--she
    kot(cat)--he
    if, for example, we want to say female pigeon we add "ka" at the end--golubka. Or add "shka"--koshka(female cat). Yeah...very confusing, i know...^^
     
    #5
    me_dreaming_zzz, Aug 3, 2005
  6. Ciel

    Ciel Unoa Freak
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    You mean chashka is a feminine word? I don't know russian, so sorry abotut he Q.

    In French it's the same. And because of that agreements such as adding an extra e must be made.
     
    #6
    Ciel, Aug 3, 2005
  7. me_dreaming_zzz

    me_dreaming_zzz ¯\(º_o)/¯

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    we actually refer to chashka(cup) as she. Example: This chashka, she is so big. Or, "pass me her, please" *pointing at a cup* ^^ yeah...very different from english.
     
    #7
    me_dreaming_zzz, Aug 4, 2005

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