GENDER. LIT. DEF. The word, gender,1 means mode of production, origin, source. 43. GENDER is a logical attribute or property, which the noun derives from the presence or absence of sex in that which the noun names. NOTE I. Probably the term, Gender, was originally applied to an idea subordinate to all principal ideas of material objects. This subordinate idea is that every material thing belongs either to the Animates, animals, plants, or to the Inanimates, minerals, etc. If it belong to the Animates, it must also belong either to the male sex, or to the female sex; if to the Inanimates, it belongs to neither sex; hence, that attribute or property of a Noun, by which it signifies the source or origin of its ideal, is very properly called the Gender of the Noun. Gender includes "distinction of sex," and more than this; just as the origin of all created objects includes more than the origin of any class of created objects; so that the term, Gender, has a larger signification than the term, Sex, which, literally, means cut, or divided, and should be used in Grammar as a name for the two sections or sexes, male, female, into which Animate beings are naturally divided. 44. Nouns have four kinds of Gender; namely, Masculine, Feminine, Common, and Neuter. LIT. DEF. The word, masculine,2 means belonging to a male. 45. The MASCULINE Gender is attributed to nouns which are names of males. 3 LIT. DEF. The word, feminine, means belonging to a female. 46. The FEMININE Gender is attributed to nouns which are names of females. EXAMPLES. 1. That man and that woman may be a husband and his wife, a brother and his sister, a father and his daughter, an uncle and his niece, a nephew and his aunt, an actor and an actress, a lord and a lady, a duke and a duchess, or a beau and a belle. 1 GENDER. (d)er, office of, mode of; gen, origin, production, race. genesis, general, generation. 2 MASCULINE. ine, belonging to; cul, little, somewhat; mas, male. 3 FEMININE ine, -; femin, female. See Dict., Grammatical Analysis. Man is a subject common Noun. It has the logical attribute, masculine Gender; because, it names a male. Woman is a subject common Noun. It has the logical attribute, feminine Gender; because, etc. 47. The CомMON Gender is attributed to a noun, which names either a male, or a female, or both. 2. Your uncle and aunt are cousins of my parents. Their children are pupils in my school. Parsing. Cousins is a subject Noun. It has the attribute, common Gender; because, it may be used as the name of males, or of females, or of both. NOTE II. Many, who object to a "Common Gender," use a "Neuter Gender," nevertheless; while others, with more consistency, reject both. "If," say the latter, "gender means sex, then only the names of males and females have gender." This error comes from using a false definition; as, "Gender is sex." Gender is the attribute only, which relates to the presence and kind, or absence of sex in the thing named; hence, gender is a more comprehensive term than sex. Gender is an attribute of the names of all objects, whether animate or inanimate. In every language, there are certain words, which are to be used only as the names of males; others as the names of females; and others, which may be applied to either, or to both. Now, since these three distinctions are found in the use of words, it becomes absolutely essential for good scholarship, that the learner be taught to use words correctly in this respect. 3. Husband and wife are a "married couple," or "partners for life;" father and mother are parents; sons and daughters are children; brothers and sisters are kindred; and all may constitute a family and be relatives. LIT. DEF. The word, neuter, means neither. 48. The NEUTER Gender is attributed to a noun which names neither sex. 4. The approach of a storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, is a sublime spectacle. Parsing. Approach is a subject common Noun. It has the attribute, neuter gender; because, it names that which is neither a male nor a female. NOTE III. The Neuter Gender is attributed to Phrase Nouns and, also, to Sentential or Clause Nouns. 5. The play was called "A Peep Behind the Scenes." Parsing. "A Peep Behind the Scenes" is a phrase subject noun. It has the neuter Gender. 6. She heard the birds sing. The birds sing is a sentential or clause object Noun. It has the neuter Gender. NOTE IV. Sometimes, by a figurative use of language, Nouns, naming inanimate objects, take either the Masculine, or Feminine Gender. (See Chap. V., Personification.) 7. The sun riseth, and he also goeth down. Parsing. Sun is a subject proper noun, which has the attribute neuter gender; but, by a figure of speech, it has the attribute, masculine gender. 8. The moon is up, how bright she shines. 9. Look at yon ship, how well she sails. NOTE V. Names of animals and plants, whose sexes cannot be readily distinguished, are frequently personified by it. 10. Even a child is known by its doings. The MEANS of KNOWING the GENDERS of Nouns. 49. The Genders of Nouns may be known in three ways; First. By their meanings. The Genders of most English Nouns are known by their meanings or ideas only PERSON. LIT. DEF. The word, person, means sounding through. (See Personators.) 50. PERSON is a logical attribute, which a noun derives from the relations of its ideal to the narration. 51. Nouns have three kinds of Person; namely, First, Second, and Third Person. First Person. 52. The FIRST Person is an attribute of a noun naming the narrator. EXAMPLES. 1. Am I Joseph? I am Joseph. Grammatical Analysis. Joseph is a second subject proper Noun. It has the attributes, masculine gender, first Person. Joseph has the Jirst Person, because it names the narrator. 2. We, inhabitants of the State of Maine, do petition, etc. 3. The property was left to us, his successors. Second Person. 53. The SECOND Person is an attribute of a noun naming the narratee. 4. Brutus. Mark Anthony, here, take you Cæsar's body. Parsing. Mark Anthony is a subject proper noun, masculine gender, second Person. It has the logical attribute, second Person, because it names the narratee. 5. Go, slaves, and do your master's bidding. 6. How dear thou art! O, Auld Lang Syne. Auld Lang Syne is a phrase subject noun. It has the second Person. Third Person. 54. The THIRD Person is an attribute of a noun naming neither a narrator nor a narratee. |