Re: [TIED] Neuter and feminine

----- Original Message -----
From: "Danny Wier" <dawier@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 12:09 AM
Subject: Re: [TIED] Neuter and feminine


> I sense that the neuter plural (or more precisely
collective) equalling the
> feminine singular comes from a notion that the neuter
plural is "the mother"
> of neuter singular. My theory on gender is that feminines
are producers,
> masculines are initiators, and neuters are results. In
nature: egg, seed,
> offspring.

It seems to me that the same mechanisms were used in PIE to
derive collectives (my idea is that they were also
"augmentatives", cf. the use of _waters_ in the sense 'a
large body of water') and animate counterparts of inanimate
nouns. Such "animating" formations could have some sort of
honorific value. Note, for example, that Hittite _tekan_
'earth' (< *dHegHm) is inanimate, but Greek _kHtHo:n_ and
related reflexes of *dHgHo:m in other IE languages are
feminine. It's possible that hieroglyphic Luwian _takam-_
'land(s), country' and the Hittite deity _Dagan-tsipas_
reflect the same vocalism as the Greek word (i.e. the
augmentative or honorific *dHgHom-). Another such case may
be *saxwl 'sun' with the honorific variant *s(x)wo:l, cf.
Gothic _sauil_ (n.) vs. Latin _so:l_ (m.).

Collectives in *-ax- were formed for animates too; they
could also be derived from adjectives (like English _the
rich_ etc.). They are very productive in Slavic, cf. Polish
_szlachta_ 'gentry', _biedota_ 'the poor', _sLuZba_ 'the
servants', _piechota_ 'infantry', etc. They are formally
singular feminines; some of them also function as abstract
nouns (e.g. _sLuZba_ may also mean 'service'). The irregular
plurals _bracia_ 'brothers' and _ksieNZa_ 'priests', both
masculine in Modern Polish, are also original collectives
(cf. English _clergy_; OCS _brat(r)ija_ was still
grammatically feminine and singular, though it meant
'brothers').

The Polish plural _drwa_ (< *drUva < *druwa:) 'timber' has
no corresponding singular (the Slavic stem *derwo- 'tree'
has a different apophonic grade); it looks for all the world
like an old collective (*dru-a:x) corresponding to the PIE
inanimate *doru (alternating with *drou-/*dru-) 'wood,
tree'.

Slavic also has many masculine or "common gender" nouns in
*-a:, e.g. Polish _sLuga_ 'servant', _kLamca_ 'liar',
_seNdzia_ 'judge', _maruda_ 'grouch', etc., most of which
are deverbal formations. PIE must have had lots of animate
nouns in *-a: and *-ta: (Lat. _nau-ta_, Gk. _nau-te:-s_ with
a secondary -s), some of which, but not all, came to be
interpreted as feminine.

It's fascinating stuff, and I don't mind discussing it in
depth. There are things waiting to be discovered here.

Piotr