Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ecsvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary From: dgary@ecsvax.UUCP (D Gary Grady) Newsgroups: net.lang,net.women Subject: Re: Pronouns devoid of gender connotations. Message-ID: <1647@ecsvax.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 13:06:56 EDT Article-I.D.: ecsvax.1647 Posted: Mon Jul 15 13:06:56 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 20:51:53 EDT References: <520@leadsv.UUCP>, <359@ucdavis.UUCP> Organization: Duke U Comp Ctr Lines: 17 Xref: watmath net.lang:1646 net.women:6431 I don't know if someone else has pointed this out or not, but for what it's worth several languages make do with no pronoun gender at all (that is, not an alternative gender-neutral pronoun that means "he or she but not it" but rather a pronoun system that does not distinguish between gender or between human and non-human). Some languages I believe this is true of (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) are Chinese and the Finno-Ugric group, which included Hungarian (Magyar), Estonian, and Finnish. A minor aside: Dutch nouns carry two genders, but they are not male and female. Instead there is neuter and "common" which descended from the Germanic male and female. -- D Gary Grady Duke U Comp Center, Durham, NC 27706 (919) 684-3695 USENET: {seismo,decvax,ihnp4,akgua,etc.}!mcnc!ecsvax!dgary