Re: gender in indo-european languages

From: Jacques Guy (jguy_at_alphalink.com.au)
Date: 09/29/04 

Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 10:17:41 -0700

howard richler wrote:

> Can somebody verify the statement that Italian nouns always (or even
> usually) take the same gender as French ones

Not always, only (very) often.

> and explain (if true)
> why this would be the case.

Both are descended from Latin. Gender was inherited,
with some unpredictable transmission errors. Hence
cases like Fr. dent (fem.) vs It. dente (masc.)

> And if true, why would there be a
> correspondence between French and Italian but not between Italian and
> Spanish?

The correspondence between French and Italian is "not always".
Same between Italian and Spanish: "not always".