GENDER
Gender is distinction according to sex.
Nouns and pronouns may be of the masculine, the feminine, or the neuter gender.
1. A noun or pronoun denoting a male being is of the masculine gender.
EXAMPLES: Joseph, boy, cockerel, buck, footman, butler, brother, father, uncle, he.
2. A noun or pronoun denoting a female being is of the feminine gender.
EXAMPLES: girl, Julia, hen, waitress, maid, doe, spinster, matron, aunt, squaw, she.
3. A noun or pronoun denoting a thing without animal life is of the neuter gender.
EXAMPLES: pencil, light, water, star, book, dust, leaf, it.
A noun or pronoun which is sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine is often said to be of common gender .
EXAMPLES: bird, speaker, artist, animal, cat, European, musician, operator, they.
A pronoun must be in the same gender as the noun for which it stands or to which it refers.
Each of the following pronouns is limited to a single gender:
MASCULINE: he , his , him .
FEMININE: she , her , hers .
NEUTER: it , its .
All other pronouns vary in gender.
Robert greeted his employer. [Masculine.]
A mother passed with her child. [Feminine.]
This tree has lost its foliage. [Neuter.]
Who laughed? [Masculine or feminine.]
How do you do? [Masculine or feminine.]
Gender is distinction according to sex.
Nouns and pronouns may be of the masculine, the feminine, or the neuter gender.
1. A noun or pronoun denoting a male being is of the masculine gender.
EXAMPLES: Joseph, boy, cockerel, buck, footman, butler, brother, father, uncle, he.
2. A noun or pronoun denoting a female being is of the feminine gender.
EXAMPLES: girl, Julia, hen, waitress, maid, doe, spinster, matron, aunt, squaw, she.
3. A noun or pronoun denoting a thing without animal life is of the neuter gender.
EXAMPLES: pencil, light, water, star, book, dust, leaf, it.
A noun or pronoun which is sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine is often said to be of common gender .
EXAMPLES: bird, speaker, artist, animal, cat, European, musician, operator, they.
A pronoun must be in the same gender as the noun for which it stands or to which it refers.
Each of the following pronouns is limited to a single gender:
MASCULINE: he , his , him .
FEMININE: she , her , hers .
NEUTER: it , its .
All other pronouns vary in gender.
Robert greeted his employer. [Masculine.]
A mother passed with her child. [Feminine.]
This tree has lost its foliage. [Neuter.]
Who laughed? [Masculine or feminine.]
How do you do? [Masculine or feminine.]
They have disappeared. [Masculine, feminine, or neuter.]
I do not care for either . [Masculine, feminine, or neuter.]
A neuter noun may become masculine or feminine by personification
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams
The blue Mediterranean.--SHELLEY.
Stern daughter of the Voice of God!
O Duty!--WORDSWORTH.
Nature from her seat
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe.--MILTON.
In speaking of certain objects, such as a ship and the moon, it is customary to use she and her . In like manner, he is used in speaking of the sun and of most animals, without reference to sex, although it often designates an insect or other small creature, and even a very young child.
Who and which are both used in referring to the lower animals . Which is the commoner, but who is not infrequent, especially if the animal is thought of as an intelligent being.
Thus one would say, “The dog which is for sale is in that kennel,” even if one added, “ He is a collie.” But which would never be used in such a sentence as, “I have a dog who loves children.”
The gender of masculine and of feminine nouns may be shown in various ways.
1. The male and the female of many kinds or classes of living beings are denoted by different words.
MASCULINE FEMININE
father mother
husband wife
uncle aunt
king queen
monk nun
wizard witch
lord lady
horse mare
gander goose
drake duck
cock hen
ram ewe
bull cow
hart hind
buck doe
fox vixen[10]
2. Some masculine nouns become feminine by the addition of an ending.
MASCULINE FEMININE
heir heiress
baron baroness
lion lioness
prince princess
emperor empress
tiger tigress
executor executrix
administrator administratrix
hero heroine
Joseph Josephine
sultan sultana
Philip Philippa
NOTE. The feminine gender is often indicated by the ending ess . Frequently the corresponding masculine form ends in or or er :
as,--actor, actress; governor, governess; waiter, waitress. The ending ess is not so common as formerly. Usage favors proprietor , author , editor , etc., even for the feminine (rather than the harsher forms proprietress , authoress , editress ), whenever there is no special reason for emphasizing the difference of sex.
3. A few feminine words become masculine by the addition of an ending. Thus,-- widow , widower ; bride , bridegroom .
4. Gender is sometimes indicated by the ending man , woman , maid , boy , or girl .
EXAMPLES: salesman, saleswoman; foreman, forewoman; laundryman; milkmaid; cash boy, cash girl.
5. A noun or a pronoun is sometimes prefixed to a noun to indicate gender.
EXAMPLES: manservant, maidservant; mother bird; cock sparrow, hen sparrow; boy friend, girl friend; he-wolf, she-wolf.
6. The gender of a noun may be indicated by some accompanying part of speech, usually by a pronoun.
My cat is always washing his face.
The intruder shook her head.
I was confronted by a pitiful creature , haggard and unshaven .
NOTE. The variations in form studied under 2 and 3 (above) are often regarded as inflections. In reality, however, the masculine and the feminine are different words. Thus, baroness is not an inflectional form of baron , but a distinct noun, made from baron by adding the ending ess , precisely as barony and baronage are made from baron by adding the endings y and age . The process is rather that of derivation or noun-formation than that of inflection.
NUMBER
Number is that property of substantives which shows whether they indicate one person, place, or thing or more than one.
There are two numbers,--the singular and the plural.
The singular number denotes but one person, place, or thing. The plural number denotes more than one person, place, or thing.
Most nouns form the plural number by adding s or es to the singular.
EXAMPLES: mat, mats; wave, waves; problem, problems; bough, boughs; John, Johns; nurse, nurses; tense, tenses; bench, benches; dish, dishes; class, classes; fox, foxes.
SPECIAL RULES
1. If the singular ends in s , x , z , ch , or sh , the plural ending is es .
EXAMPLES: loss, losses; box, boxes; buzz, buzzes; match, matches; rush, rushes.
2. Many nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also take the ending es in the plural.
EXAMPLES: hero, heroes; cargo, cargoes; potato, potatoes; motto, mottoes; buffalo, buffaloes; mosquito, mosquitoes.
3 . Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel form their plural in s : as,-- cameo , cameos ; folio , folios .
4. The following nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also form their plural in s :--
banjo
bravo
burro
cantocasino
chromo
contralto
duodecimo
dynamo
halo[11]
junto
lasso
memento[11]
octavo
piano
proviso
quarto
solo
soprano
stiletto
torso
tyro
zero[11]
In some nouns the addition of the plural ending alters the spelling and even the sound of the singular form.
1. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant change y to i and add es in the plural.
EXAMPLES: sky, skies; fly, flies; country, countries; berry, berries. (Contrast: valley, valleys; chimney, chimneys; monkey, monkeys; boy,
boys; day, days.)
Most proper names ending in y , however, take the plural in s .
EXAMPLES: Mary, Marys; Murphy, Murphys; Daly, Dalys; Rowley, Rowleys; May, Mays.
2. Some nouns ending in f or fe , change the f to v and add es or s .
EXAMPLES: wharf, wharves; wife, wives; shelf, shelves; wolf, wolves; thief, thieves; knife, knives; half, halves; calf, calves; life,
lives; self, selves; sheaf, sheaves; loaf, loaves; leaf, leaves; elf, elves; beef, beeves.
A few nouns form their plural in en .
These are: ox, oxen; brother, brethren ( or brothers); child, children.
NOTE. Ancient or poetical plurals belonging to this class are: eyne (for eyen , from eye ), kine (cows), shoon (shoes), hosen
(hose).
. A few nouns form their plural by a change of vowel .
These are: man, men; woman, women; merman, mermen; foot, feet; tooth, teeth; goose, geese; mouse, mice; louse, lice. Also compound words ending in man or woman , such as fireman, firemen; saleswoman, saleswomen; Dutchman, Dutchmen.
NOTE. German , Mussulman , Ottoman , dragoman , firman , and talisman , which are not compounds of man , form their plurals
regularly: as,-- Germans , Mussulmans . Norman also forms its plural in s .
A few nouns have the same form in both singular and plural.
EXAMPLES: deer, sheep, heathen, Japanese, Portuguese, Iroquois.
NOTE. This class was larger in older English than at present. It included, for example, year , which in Shakspere has two plurals:--“six thousand years ,” “twelve year since.”
A few nouns have two plurals, but usually with some difference in meaning.
SINGULAR PLURAL
brother { brothers (relatives) { brethren (members of the same society)
horse { horses (animals) { horse (cavalry)
foot { feet (parts of the body) { foot (infantry)
sail { sails (on vessels) { sail (vessels in a fleet)
head { heads (in usual sense) { head (of cattle)
fish { fishes (individually) { fish (collectively)
penny { pennies (single coins) { pence (collectively)
cloth { cloths (pieces of cloth) { clothes (garments)
die { dies (for stamping) { dice (for gaming)
The pennies were arranged in neat piles.
English money is reckoned in pounds, shillings, and pence .
When compound nouns are made plural, the last part usually takes the plural form; less often the first part; rarely both parts.
EXAMPLES: spoonful, spoonfuls; bathhouse, bathhouses; forget-me-not, forget-me-nots; editor-in-chief, editors-in-chief; maid-of-honor,
maids-of-honor; gentleman usher, gentlemen ushers; Knight Templar, Knights Templars; Lord Justice, Lords Justices; manservant,
menservants.
. Letters of the alphabet, figures, signs used in writing, and words regarded merely as words take ’s in the plural.
“Embarrassed” is spelled with two r’s and two s’s .
Your 3’s look like 8’s .
Tell the printer to change the §’s to ¶’s.
Don’t interrupt me with your but’s !
Foreign nouns in English sometimes retain their foreign plurals; but many have an English plural also.
Some of the commonest are included in the following list:[12]
SINGULAR PLURAL
alumna (feminine) alumnæ
alumnus (masculine) alumni
amanuensis amanuenses
analysis analyses
animalculum animalcula[13]
antithesis antitheses
appendix { appendices
{ appendixes
axis axes
bacillus bacilli
bacterium bacteria
bandit { banditti
{ bandits
basis bases
beau { beaux
{ beaus
candelabrum candelabra
cumulus cumuli
cherub { cherubim
{ cherubs
crisis crises
curriculum curricula
datum data
ellipsis ellipses
erratum errata
formula { formulæ
{ formulas
genius { genii
{ geniuses
genus genera
gymnasium { gymnasia
{ gymnasiums
hippopotamus hippopotami
hypothesis hypotheses
larva larvæ
memorandum { memoranda
{ memorandums
nebula nebulæ
oasis oases
parenthesis parentheses
phenomenon phenomena
radius radii
seraph { seraphim
{ seraphs
species species
stratum strata
synopsis synopses
tableau tableaux
tempo tempi
terminus termini
thesis theses
trousseau trousseaux
vertebra vertebræ
The two plurals sometimes differ in meaning: as,--
Michael Angelo and Raphael were geniuses .
Spirits are sometimes called genii .
This book has two indices .
The printer uses signs called indexes .
When a proper name with the title Mr. , Mrs. , Miss , or Master , is put into the plural, the rules are as follows:--
1. The plural of Mr. is Messrs. (pronounced Messers [14]). The name remains in the singular. Thus,--
Mr. Jackson , plural Messrs. (or the Messrs. ) Jackson .
2. Mrs. has no plural. The name itself takes the plural form. Thus,--
Mrs. Jackson , plural the Mrs. Jacksons .
3. In the case of Miss , sometimes the title is put into the plural, sometimes the name. Thus,--
Miss Jackson , plural the Misses Jackson or the Miss Jacksons .
The latter expression is somewhat informal. Accordingly, it would not be used in a formal invitation or reply, or in addressing a letter.
4. The plural of Master is Masters . The name remains in the singular. Thus,--
Master Jackson , plural the Masters Jackson .
Other titles usually remain in the singular, the name taking the plural form: as,-- the two General Follansbys . But when two or more
names follow, the title becomes plural: as,-- Generals Rolfe and Johnson .
Some nouns, on account of their meaning, are seldom or never used in the plural.
Such are many names of qualities (as cheerfulness , mirth ), of sciences (as chemistry [15]), of forces (as gravitation ).
Many nouns, commonly used in the singular only, may take a plural in some special sense. Thus,--
earth (the globe) earths (kinds of soil)
ice (frozen water) ices (food)
tin (a metal) tins (tin dishes or cans)
nickel (a metal) nickels (coins)
Some nouns are used in the plural only.
Such are: annals, athletics, billiards, dregs, eaves, entrails, lees, nuptials, oats, obsequies, pincers, proceeds, riches, scissors,
shears, suds, tweezers, tongs, trousers, victuals, vitals; and (in certain special senses) ashes, goods, links, scales, spectacles, stocks.
. A few nouns are plural in form, but singular in meaning.
Such are: gallows, news, measles, mumps, small pox (for small pocks ), politics, and some names of sciences (as, civics, economics,
ethics, mathematics, physics, optics).
NOTE. These nouns were formerly plural in sense as well as in form. News , for example, originally meant “new things.” Shakspere uses it
both as a singular and as a plural. Thus,--“ This news was brought to Richard” ( King John , v. 3. 12); “But wherefore do I tell these
news to thee?” ( 1 Henry IV , iii. 2. 121). In a few words modern usage varies. The following nouns are sometimes singular, sometimes
plural: alms , amends , bellows , means , pains (in the sense of “effort”), tidings .
No comments:
Post a Comment