Editing Grammatical gender (section)

== Categorization of nouns into genders ==
[[File:French country name genders.svg|upright=1.6|thumb|In the French language, countries can have masculine (green) or feminine (purple) names. Except for certain islands and ''Mexique'', ''Mozambique'', ''Cambodge'' and ''Zimbabwe'', the gender depends on whether the country name ends in ''-e''.]]
[[File:Polish country name genders.svg|upright=1.6|thumb|In the [[Polish language]], countries can have masculine (blue), feminine (red) or neuter (yellow) names. Countries with plural non-masculine names are green. There are no country names in Polish with plural masculine personal gender.]]
[[File:Gender in European languages.png|thumb|Gender in European languages:
'''Light blue''': no gender system.
<br />
'''Yellow''': common/neuter.
<br />
'''Red''': masculine/feminine.
<br />
'''Green''': animate/inanimate.
<br />
'''Dark blue''': masculine/feminine/neuter. Standard Dutch has a three-gender structure, which fell in disuse in the North of the Netherlands but remains very much alive in Flanders and the South of the Netherlands.
]]
There are three main ways by which natural languages categorize nouns into genders:
* according to their form ([[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]])
* according to logical or symbolic similarities in their meaning ([[semantics|semantic]])
* according to arbitrary convention (lexical, possibly rooted in the language's history).

In most languages that have grammatical gender, a combination of these three types of criteria is found, although one type may be more prevalent.

=== Form-based morphological criteria ===
In many languages, nouns are assigned to gender largely without any semantic basis—that is, not based on any feature (such as animacy or sex) of the person or thing that a noun represents. In such languages there may be a correlation, to a greater or lesser degree, between gender and the form of a noun (such as the vowel or consonant or syllable with which it ends).

For example, in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], nouns that end in {{lang|es|-o}} are mostly masculine, whereas those that end in {{lang|es|-a}} are mostly feminine, regardless of their meaning. Nouns that end in some other vowel or a consonant are assigned a gender either according to [[etymology]], by analogy, or by some other convention. These rules may override semantics in some cases: for example, the noun {{lang|pt|membro}}/{{lang|es|miembro}} ("member") is always masculine, even when it refers to a girl or a woman, and {{lang|pt|pessoa}}/{{lang|es|persona}} ("person") is always feminine, even when it refers to a boy or a man, a kind of [[form-meaning mismatch]].

In other cases, meaning takes precedence: the noun {{lang|es|comunista}} "communist" is masculine when it refers or could refer to a man, even though it ends with {{lang|es|-a}}. Nouns in Spanish and Portuguese, as in the other [[Romance languages]] such as Italian and French, generally follow the gender of the Latin words from which they are derived. When nouns deviate from the rules for gender, there is usually an etymological explanation: {{lang|es|problema}} ("problem") is masculine in Spanish because it was derived from a Greek noun of the neuter gender, whereas {{lang|es|foto}} ("photo") and {{lang|es|radio}} ("broadcast signal") are feminine because they are [[Clipping (morphology)|clippings]] of {{lang|es|fotografía}} and {{lang|es|radiodifusión}} respectively, both grammatically feminine nouns.

Most Spanish nouns in {{lang|es|-ión}} are feminine. They derive from Latin feminines in {{lang|la|-ō}}, accusative {{lang|la|-iōnem}}. The opposite is correct with Northern [[Kurdish language]] or [[Kurmanci]]. For example, the words {{lang|ku|endam}} (member) and {{lang|ku|heval}} (friend) can be masculine or feminine according to the person they refer to.
* {{lang|ku|Keça wî hevala min e.}} (His daughter is my friend)
* {{lang|ku|Kurrê wî hevalê min e.}} (His son is my friend)

[[Suffix]]es often carry a specific gender. For example, in [[German language|German]], [[diminutive]]s with the suffixes {{lang|de|-chen}} and {{lang|de|-lein}}, meaning 'little, young', are always neuter, even if they refer to people, as with {{lang|de|Mädchen}} 'girl' and {{lang|de|Fräulein}} 'young woman' {{crossreference|(see [[#Natural gender|below]])|printworthy=y}}. Similarly, the suffix {{lang|de|-ling}}, which makes [[count noun|countable nouns]] from uncountable nouns ({{lang|de|Teig}} 'dough' → {{lang|de|Teigling}} 'piece of dough'), or personal nouns from abstract nouns ({{lang|de|Lehre}} 'teaching', {{lang|de|Strafe}} 'punishment' → {{lang|de|Lehrling}} 'apprentice', {{lang|de|Sträfling}} 'convict') or adjectives ({{lang|de|feige}} 'cowardly' → {{lang|de|Feigling}} 'coward'), always produces masculine nouns. And the German suffixes {{lang|de|-heit}} and {{lang|de|-keit}} (comparable with ''-hood'' and ''-ness'' in English) produce feminine nouns.

In [[Irish language|Irish]], most nouns ending with a broad consonant are masculine, those ending with a slender consonant are feminine (see [[Irish phonology]]), with significant exceptions: nouns ending in {{lang|ga|-óir}}/{{lang|ga|-eoir}} and {{lang|ga|-ín}} are always masculine, whereas those ending {{lang|ga|-óg/-eog}} or {{lang|ga|-lann}} are always feminine.

In [[Arabic language|Arabic]], nouns whose singular form ends in a ''[[tāʾ marbūṭah]]'' (traditionally a {{IPAblink|t}}, becoming {{IPAblink|h}} in [[pausa]]) are of feminine gender, the only significant exceptions being the word {{lang|ar|خليفة}} {{transliteration|ar|khalīfah}} ("[[caliph]]") and certain masculine personal names ({{abbr|e.g.|for example}} {{lang|ar|أسامة}} [[Osama (name)|ʾUsāmah]]). However, many masculine nouns have a [[broken plural|"broken" plural form]] ending in a ''tāʾ marbūṭa''; for example {{lang|ar|أستاذ}} ''{{transliteration|ar|ustādh}}'' ("male professor") has the plural {{lang|ar|أساتذة}} {{transliteration|ar|asātidha}}, which might be confused for a feminine singular noun. Gender may also be predictable from the type of [[Morphological derivation|derivation]]: for instance, the [[Arabic verbal noun|verbal nouns]] of Stem II (e.g. {{lang|ar|التفعيل}} {{transliteration|ar|al-tafʿīl}}, from {{lang|ar|فعّل، يفعّل}} {{transliteration|ar|faʿʿala, yufaʿʿil}}) are always masculine.

In [[French language|French]], nouns ending in {{lang|fr|-e}} tend to be feminine, whereas others tend to be masculine, but there are many exceptions to this ({{abbr|e.g.|for example}} {{lang|fr|cadre}}, {{lang|fr|arbre}}, {{lang|fr|signe}}, {{lang|fr|meuble}}, {{lang|fr|nuage}} are masculine as {{lang|fr|façon}}, {{lang|fr|chanson}}, {{lang|fr|voix}}, {{lang|fr|main}}, {{lang|fr|eau}} are feminine), note the many masculine nouns ending in {{lang|fr|-e}} preceded by double consonants. Certain suffixes are quite reliable indicators, such as {{lang|fr|-age}}, which when added to a verb ({{abbr|e.g.}} {{lang|fr|garer}} "to park" → {{lang|fr|garage}}; nettoyer "to clean" → {{lang|fr|nettoyage}} "cleaning") indicates a masculine noun; however, when {{lang|fr|-age}} is part of the root of the word, it can be feminine, as in {{lang|fr|plage}} ("beach") or {{lang|fr|image}}. On the other hand, nouns ending in {{lang|fr|-tion}}, {{lang|fr|-sion}} and {{lang|fr|-aison}} are almost all feminine, with a few exceptions, such as {{lang|fr|cation}}, {{lang|fr|bastion}}.

Nouns can sometimes vary their form to enable the [[Morphological derivation|derivation]] of differently gendered [[cognate (linguistics)|cognate]] nouns; for example, to produce nouns with a similar meaning but referring to someone of a different sex. Thus, in Spanish, {{lang|es|niño}} means "boy", and {{lang|es|niña}} means "girl". This paradigm can be exploited for making new words: from the masculine nouns {{lang|es|abogado}} "lawyer", {{lang|es|diputado}} "member of parliament" and {{lang|es|doctor}} "doctor", it was straightforward to make the feminine equivalents {{lang|es|abogada}}, {{lang|es|diputada}}, and {{lang|es|doctora}}.

In the same way, [[personal name]]s are frequently constructed with affixes that identify the sex of the bearer. Common feminine suffixes used in English names are ''-a'', of [[Latin language|Latin]] or [[Romance languages|Romance]] origin ({{abbr|cf.|compare with}} ''Robert'' and ''Roberta''); and ''-e'', of [[French language|French]] origin (cf. ''Justin'' and ''Justine'').

Although gender inflection may be used to construct nouns and names for people of different sexes in languages that have grammatical gender, this alone does not constitute grammatical gender. Distinct words and names for men and women are also common in languages which do not have a grammatical gender system for nouns in general. English, for example, has feminine suffixes such as ''-ess'' (as in ''waitress''), and also distinguishes male and female personal names, as in the above examples.

==== Differentiation of personal names ====
[[File:Spanish names&nouns ending in a Statistics.png|thumb|right|Statistical data on the Spanish nouns and names ending in ''a'']]

Given names are proper nouns and they follow the same gender grammatical rules as common nouns. In most Indo-European languages female grammatical gender is created using an "a" or an "e" ending.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

Classical Latin typically made a grammatical feminine gender with {{lang|la|-a}} ({{lang|la|silva}} "forest", {{lang|la|aqua}} "water") and this was reflected in feminine names originating in that period, like Emilia. Romance languages preserved this characteristic. For example, in Spanish, approximately 89% of nouns that end in ''-a'' or -''á'' are classified as feminine; the same is true for 98% of given names with the ''-a'' ending.<ref>[https://blog-en.namepedia.org/2015/11/why-most-european-names-ending-in-a-are-female/ Namepedia Blog – Why Most European Names Ending in A Are Female]</ref>

In the Germanic languages the female names have been Latinized by adding ''-e'' and ''-a'': Brunhild, Kriemhild and Hroswith became Brunhilde, Kriemhilde and Hroswitha.
Slavic feminine given names: Olga (Russian), Małgorzata (Polish), Tetiana (Ukrainian), Oksana (Belarusian), Eliška (Czech), Bronislava (Slovak), Milica (Serbian), Darina (Bulgarian), Lucja (Croatian), Lamija (Bosnian) and Zala (Slovenian).

==== Differentiation of nouns with human referents ====
In some languages, nouns with human references have two forms, a male and a female one. This includes not only proper names, but also names for occupations and nationalities. Examples include:

* English proper names:
*# male: ''Andrew''
*# female: ''Andrea''
*# common: ''Chris'' for both male and female
* English occupation names
*# male: ''waiter''
*# female: ''waitress''
*# common: ''doctor'' for both male and female
* Greek proper names {{lang|el|Κωνσταντίνος}} ({{transliteration|el|Konstantinos}}) and {{lang|el|Κωνσταντίνα}} ({{transliteration|el|Konstantina}})
* Greek occupation names {{lang|el|ηθοποιός}} ({{transliteration|el|ithopios}}) "actor" for both male and female in Greek and {{lang|el|γιατρός}} ({{transliteration|el|giatros}}) "doctor" for both, but with informal female variants {{lang|el|γιατρίνα}} ({{transliteration|el|giatrina}}) and {{lang|el|γιάτραινα}} ({{transliteration|el|giatraina}})
* Greek nationality names have five possibilities for 'English'.
*# male: {{lang|el|Άγγλος}} ({{transliteration|el|Anglos}})
*# female: {{lang|el|Αγγλίδα}} ({{transliteration|el|Anglida}})
*# masculine: {{lang|el|αγγλικός}} ({{transliteration|el|anglikos}})
*# feminine: {{lang|el|αγγλική}} ({{transliteration|el|angliki}})
*# neuter: {{lang|el|αγγλικό}} ({{transliteration|el|angliko}})

To complicate matters, Greek often offers additional informal versions of these. The corresponding for English are the following: {{lang|el|εγγλέζος}} ({{transliteration|el|englezos}}), {{lang|el|Εγγλέζα}} ({{transliteration|el|Engleza}}), {{lang|el|εγγλέζικος}} ({{transliteration|el|englezikos}}), {{lang|el|εγγλέζικη}} ({{transliteration|el|engleziki}}), {{lang|el|εγγλέζικο}} ({{transliteration|el|engleziko}}). The formal forms come from the name {{lang|el|Αγγλία}} ({{transliteration|el|Anglia}}) "England", while the less formal are derived from Italian {{lang|it|inglese}}.

===Meaning-based semantic criteria===
In some languages, gender is determined by strictly semantic criteria, but in other languages, semantic criteria only partially determine gender.

====Strict semantic criteria====

In some languages, the gender of a noun is directly determined by its physical attributes (sex, animacy, etc.), and there are few or no exceptions to this rule. There are relatively few such languages. The [[Dravidian languages]] use this system as described [[#Dravidian|below]].

Another example is the [[Dizi language]], which has two asymmetrical genders. The feminine includes all living beings of female sex (e.g. woman, girl, cow...) and [[diminutive]]s; the masculine encompasses all other nouns (e.g. man, boy, pot, broom...). In this language, feminine nouns are always marked with ''-e'' or ''-in''.{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=11}}

Another African language, [[Defaka language|Defaka]], has three genders: one for all male humans, one for all female humans, and a third for all the remaining nouns. Gender is only marked in personal pronouns. Standard English pronouns {{crossreference|(see [[#Germanic: English|below]])|printworthy=y}} are very similar in this respect, although the English gendered pronouns (''he'', ''she'') are used for domestic animals if the sex of the animal is known, and sometimes for certain objects such as ships,{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=12}} e.g. "What happened to the Titanic? She (or it) sank."

==== Mostly semantic criteria ====
In some languages, the gender of nouns can mostly be determined by physical (semantic) attributes, although there remain some nouns whose gender is not assigned in this way (Corbett calls this "semantic residue").{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=13}} The world view (e.g. mythology) of the speakers may influence the division of categories.{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=32}}

* [[Zande language|Zande]] has four genders: male human, female human, animal, and inanimate.{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=14}} However, there are about 80 nouns representing inanimate entities which are nonetheless animate in gender: heavenly objects (moon, rainbow), metal objects (hammer, ring), edible plants (sweet potato, pea), and non-metallic objects (whistle, ball). Many have a round shape or can be explained by the role they play in mythology.{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=14}}
* [[Ket language|Ket]] has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and most gender assignment is based on semantics, but there are many inanimate nouns outside the neuter class. Masculine nouns include male animates, most fish, trees, the moon, large wooden objects, most living beings and some religious items. Feminine nouns include female animates, three types of fish, some plants, the sun and other heavenly objects, some body parts and skin diseases, the soul, and some religious items. Words for part of a whole, as well as most other nouns that do not fall into any of the aforementioned classes, are neuter. The gender assignment of non-sex-differentiable things is complex. In general, those of no importance to the Kets are feminine, whereas objects of importance (e.g. fish, wood) are masculine. Mythology is again a significant factor.{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=19}}
* [[Alamblak language|Alamblak]] has two genders, masculine and feminine. However, the masculine also includes things which are tall or long and slender, or narrow (e.g. fish, snakes, arrows and slender trees), whereas the feminine gender has things which are short, squat or wide (e.g. turtles, houses, shields and squat trees).{{sfn|Corbett|1991|p=32}}
* In French, the distinction between the gender of a noun and the gender of the object it refers to is clear when nouns of different genders can be used for the same object, for example vélo (m.) = bicyclette (f.).

==== Contextual determination of gender ====
There are certain situations where the assignment of gender to a noun, pronoun or noun phrase may not be straightforward. This includes in particular:
* groups of mixed gender;
* references to people or things of unknown or unspecified gender.

In languages with masculine and feminine gender, the masculine is usually employed by default to refer to persons of unknown gender and to groups of people of mixed gender. Thus, in French the feminine plural pronoun {{lang|fr|elles}} always designates an all-female group of people (or stands for a group of nouns all of feminine gender), but the masculine equivalent {{lang|fr|ils}} may refer to a group of males or masculine nouns, to a mixed group, or to a group of people of unknown genders. In such cases, one says that the feminine gender is [[markedness|semantically marked]], whereas the masculine gender is unmarked.

In English, the problem of gender determination does not arise in the plural, because gender in that language is reflected only in pronouns, and the plural pronoun ''they'' does not have gendered forms. In the singular, however, the issue frequently arises when a person of unspecified or unknown gender is being referred to. In this case it the [[Singular they|Singular ''they'']] has been traditional. 
Since the 18th century it has been prescribed to use the masculine (''he''), but other solutions are now often preferred{{crossreference|&nbsp;(see [[Gender-neutral language]])}}.

In languages with a neuter gender, such as [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Germanic languages]], the neuter is often used for indeterminate gender reference, particularly when the things referred to are not people. In some cases this may even apply when referring to people, particularly children. For example, in English, one may use ''it'' to refer to a child, particularly when speaking generically rather than about a particular child of known sex.

In [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] (which preserves a masculine–feminine–neuter distinction in both singular and plural), the neuter plural can be used for groups of people of mixed gender, when specific people are meant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kramer |first=Ruth |title=The Morphosyntax of Gender |url={{GBurl|TZOCgAAQBAJ |p=144}} |page=144 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Grönberg |first=Anna Gunnarsdotter |contribution=Masculine generics in current Icelandic |editor1-last=Hellinger |editor1-first=Marlis |editor2-last=Bußmann |editor2-first=Hamumod |title=Gender Across Languages |volume=2 |location=Amsterdam/Philadelphia |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing]] |date=2002 |pages=163–186 |isbn=90-272-1842-0}}</ref> For example:
* {{lang|is|þau ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}}) höfðu hist í skóginum þegar kerlingin ({{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|SG}}) var ung stúlka og keisarinn ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|SG}}) óbreyttur prins.}} 'They ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}}) had met in the forest when the old woman ({{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|SG}}) was a young girl and the emperor ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|SG}}) was only a prince.'
However, when referring to previously unmentioned groups of people or when referring to people in a generic way, especially when using an indefinite pronoun like 'some' or 'all', the masculine plural is used. For example:
* {{lang|is|Sumir ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}}) hafa þann sið að tala við sjálfa ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}}) sig.}} 'Some people have the habit of talking to themselves.'
An example contrasting the two ways to refer to groups is the following, taken from advertisements of Christian congregations announcing their meetings:
* {{lang|is|Allir ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}}) velkomnir ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}})}} 'All welcome' is understood to be more general whereas {{lang|is|Öll ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}}) velkomin ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}})}} is more specific and emphasises the individuality of the group members.
That the masculine is seen in Icelandic as the most generic or 'unmarked' of the three genders can also be seen in the fact that the nouns for most professions are masculine. Even feminine job descriptions historically filled by women, like {{lang|is|hjúkrunarkona}} 'nurse' and {{lang|is|fóstra}} 'nursery school teacher' (both {{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|SG}}), have been replaced with masculine ones as men have started becoming more represented in these professions: {{lang|is|hjúkrunarfræðingur}} 'nurse' and {{lang|is|leikskólakennari}} 'nursery school teacher' (both {{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|SG}}).

In [[Swedish language|Swedish]] (which has an overall common–neuter gender system), masculinity may be argued to be a marked feature, because in the [[Swedish grammar#Weak inflection|weak adjectival declension]] there is a distinct ending ({{lang|sv|-e}}) for naturally masculine nouns (as in {{lang|sv|min lill'''e'''bror}}, "my little brother"). In spite of this, the third-person singular masculine pronoun {{lang|sv|han}} would normally be the default for a person of unknown gender, although in practice the indefinite pronoun {{lang|sv|man}} and the reflexive {{lang|sv|sig}} or its possessive forms {{lang|sv|sin/sitt/sina}} usually make this unnecessary.

In [[Polish language|Polish]], where a gender-like distinction is made in the plural between "masculine personal" and all other cases {{crossreference|(see [[#Slavic languages|below]])|printworthy=y}}, a group is treated as masculine personal if it contains at least one male person.

In languages which preserve a three-way gender division in the plural, the rules for determining the gender (and sometimes number) of a [[coordination (linguistics)|coordinated]] noun phrase ("... and ...") may be quite complex. [[Czech language|Czech]] is an example of such a language, with a division (in the plural) between masculine animate, masculine inanimate, feminine, and neuter. The rules<ref>{{cite web |url= http://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/?id=601 |title=Shoda přísudku s podmětem několikanásobným |language=cs |trans-title=Agreement of the predicate with a multiple subject |work=[[Institute of the Czech Language]] of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic}}</ref> for gender and number of coordinated phrases in that language are summarized at {{slink|Czech declension|Gender and number of compound phrases}}.

=== Arbitrary conventional criteria ===
In some languages, any gender markers have been so eroded over time (possibly through [[Deflexion (linguistics)|deflexion]]) that they are no longer recognizable. Many German nouns, for example, do not indicate their gender through either meaning or form. In such cases a noun's gender must simply be memorized, and gender can be regarded as an integral part of each noun when considered as an entry in the speaker's [[lexicon]]. (This is reflected in [[dictionary|dictionaries]], which typically indicate the gender of noun [[headword]]s where applicable.)

[[Second-language learner]]s are often encouraged to memorize a modifier, usually a [[definite article]], in conjunction with each noun—for example, a learner of French may learn the word for "chair" as {{lang|fr|la chaise}} (meaning "the chair"); this carries the information that the noun is {{lang|fr|chaise}}, and that it is feminine (because {{lang|fr|la}} is the feminine singular form of the definite article).