The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1899-07-07
HUMORS OF GENDER.

fofmity of Structure.
There Is fun which the vulgar do
not suspect in the study Of languages.
European tongues, springing from the
same root, except Basque and Magyar
and Turkish, have been drilled into
uniformity of structure. They give no
notion of the tricks and complications
which savage men devise to express
their simple thoughts. But the read
er must not suppose am more learned
than himself in this science; it is only
In miscellaneous skimming of BOOKS
that few odd little examples have inn
pressed themselves upon my memory.
Observe the detail of genIer 1t ceems
to us that nature itself has regulated
that matter once for all. In most Ian
treated as masculine or feminine;
everybody knows that our own forefa.
theirs did the same long ago. But, in
any case, male, female and neuter
genders exhaust the possibilities. You
cannot have mere than three genders.
or less than two, for the sexes must be
distinguished. SO it appears to the
civilized mortal But an Australian CT
Daily river contrives to recognize. tour,
and a DravidiaE OF India have two, in
deed, but they are not male and fe-
male. For the Daily river person n
sists that plants shall have gender
of their own; the Algonquin and the
Dravidian agree that it is the distinc-
ton of living and dead. not that OF
sex. which should be maintained. The
great Fulah nation also ignores male
and female, making one comprehen-
.,ive gender for human beings and
everything that relates thereto, and
another for all creatures and things
outside Thus, tame cattle are cistin-
sulshed from wild, and a tree planted
with intention from one that springs
naturally. Upon the other hand, those
poor Armenians have, not even one
gender to bless themselves with. But
the Australians Of the. Daily river
actually put gender into their verbs.
Humane persons would not credit such
an outrage upon lower authority than
that of Rev. d. 'McKillop. in charge OF
the Roman Catholic mission there.
Only to think of learning such a IAN
suage gives one a shiver. We do not
hear how many moods go to vero
but the lenses are vaguely and aW-
tuiiy described as endless; perhaps
the reverend gentleman had not YET
succeeded in counting them. Ihlrty-
FIVE are reckoned in the speech OF the
Ba.uto Kaffirs-no less do those inter-
eSting barbarians require for conVcrsa-
ton. But they do not call upon them
TO agree with the noun in gender as
we'll as in number and person. That
IS the exclusive demand of the Mullok-
Mulloks. Cherries and Ponga- PongaS.
among whom Mr.. McKillop anc MS
brethren spend their days. desperately
wrestling with the parts of speech
Another continuance, not exclusive,
but more highly developed on the DaIy
river, apparently, than in any ochef
land or age, is the infection Of the al
jective. Besides singular and plural
they have, as we should expect, e
dual, land they are very strict aDous
the use OF it." One would say that tn
resources of human spee"h 10 not al
low the plural number 70 be forElei
un.ess by change in the first or tn
last syllable of the noun or the inter-
position of one midway. as in Turkish.
But antipodean ingenuity is equal 10
the task. These black fellows express
the plural by a. change. not in ths
noun. but in the verb. Upon tn
whole, there is no such lively example
Of the perplexing rule that languase
is more complicated, and more scrupu-
lou. 20 interpret the speakers mean
ing. in proportion to the barbarism oi
rhnse who use it. There are excep--
tons enough. of course--Pan Ma