The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-03-17
GENDER.
It's Humors, AS Exemplified in Various
Languages.

Languages.
There is fun which the vulgar do not
suspect in the study Of languages. Eu-
ropean tongues, springing from the
same root, except Basque and Magyar
and Turkish, have been drilled into uni
formity of structure. They give no no.
ton of the tricks and complications
which savage men devise to express
their simple thoughts But the reader
must not suppose I am more learned
than himself in this science; it is only
In miscellaneous Swimming of books
that few odd little examples have i'm
pressed themselves upon my memory.
Observe the detail of gender 1t
seems to us that nature itself has re-
gulated that matter once for all. In
most languages, of course, inanimate
things are treated as masculine or fem
mime; everybody knows that our own
forefathers did the same long ago. But
in any case, male, female and neuter
| genders exhaust the possibilities. You
cannot have more than three genders,
or less than two, for the sexes must be
distinguished. So 1t appears to the CIV
ilized mortal. But an Austrian of Day
Rlver contrives to recognize four, while
an Algonquin of North America and a
Dravidian of India have two, indeed,
| but they are not male and female. For
the DAILY River person insists that
plants shall have q gender of their own
the Algonquin and the Dravidian agree
that 1T is the distinction of living and
dead. not that of sex, which should be
maintained The great F'ulah nation
also ignores male and female, making
one comprehensive gender for human
beings and everything that relates
thereto. and another for all creatures
and things outside. Thus, tame cattle
are distinguished from Wild and tree
planted with intention from one that
springs naturally. Upon the other
hand, those poor Armenians have not
even gender to bless themselves with.
But the Australians of the DAILY Riv-
err actually put gender into their verbs.
Humane persons would not credit such
an outrage upon lower authority than
that Of the Rev. d. McKillop, in charge
of Roman Catholic mission there.
Only to think of learning such Ian
guage gives one a SILVER We do not
hear how many moods go to a verb,
but the tense are vaguely and awfully
described as endless perhaps the |
reverend gentleman had not yet sue
ceeded in counting them. Thirty-five |
are reckoned in the speech Of the !
Basuto Kaffirs-no less do those inter- |
esting barbarians require for conversa- |
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 and his
brethren spend their days, desperately |
wrestling with the parts of speech. An
other contrivance, not exclusive, bur
more highly developed on the DAILY |
River, apparently, than in any other
land or age, is the Infection of the adj
jective. Besides singular and plural
they have, as we should expect, the
dual, land they are very strict about
the use Of it." One would say that the
resources of human speech do not al
low the plural number to be formed UNI,
less by change in tire first or the last
syllable Of the noun or the interposi- |
ton of one midway, as in Turkish But
Antipodean ingenuity is equal to the |
task, These black fellows express the |
plural by change, not in the noun.
but in the verb. Upon the whole there
is no such lively example of the per-
picking rule that language is more |
complicated, and more scrupulous to
interpret the speakers meaning. in pro-
portion to the barbarism OF those who
use it. There are exceptions enough, |
of course.--From The Pail Mall Ga |
zette.