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What's the point of gendered words in certain languages? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by TheDarkKnight@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I know a lot of languages have some aspects that probably seem a bit strange to non-native speakers…in the case of gendered words is there a point other than “just the way its always been” that explains it a bit better?

I don’t have gendered words in my native language, and from the outside looking in I’m not sure what gendered words actually provide in terms of context? Is there more to it that I’m not quite following?

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[-] apolo399@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

The research you are basing your third paragraph on was actually never published and its claims have remained controversial.

I recommend you check this great video on both grammatical gender and Boroditsky's article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q1qp4ioknI

[-] WhoRoger@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ah okay. I just vaguely remember reading about it ages ago. But as someone whose native language is gendered, I do agree with that assessment at least to a degree. Nouns do have certain tone to them which generally corresponds to their gender as well, such as what I mentioned, words ending with -a usually being feminine and just having that softer vibe than words ending on a consonant. Tho that depends on the particular language of course.

And I wouldn't underestimate the feedback loop from language to thinking in general. For example it's well documented how we remember colors is quite dependent on how they're named.

Well unless that was debunked as well, but considering both linguistics and art are my hobbies, that might shatter my entire world view heh.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023

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