- •Теоретичні основи англійської мови
- •1. Фонетика як наука та її галузі. Фонетика і фонологія (Phonetics as a science and its branches. Phonetics and phonology)
- •2. Використання мови в усній вербальній комунікації (Language use in oral verbal communication)
- •3. Вимова як один із шляхів матеріалізації усної форми мови (Pronunciation as a way of materializing of oral form of language)
- •4. Просодія як один із найважливіших явищ в англійській мові (Prosody as one of the most important phenomena in the English language)
- •5. Порівняльна характеристика одиниць мови та мовлення (Units of language vs. Speech)
- •6. Головні варіанти вимови англійської мови (Major accents of English)
- •7. Класифікація голосних в англійській мові за артикуляцією (The articulatory classification of the English vowels)
- •8. Класифікація приголосних в англійській мові за артикуляцією (The articulatory classification of the English consonants)
- •9. Асиміляція як універсальна характерна ознака розмовної мови. Типи асиміляції (Assimilation as a universal feature of spoken language. Types of assimilation)
- •10. Склад як невід’ємна частина слова (The syllable as an integral part of the word).
- •11. Типи складів в англійській мові (Types of the syllables in English)
- •12. Природа словесного наголосу в англійській мові (The nature of English word stress)
- •13. Типи словесного наголосу в англійській мові (Types of English word stress)
- •14. Функції словесного наголосу в англійській мові (English word stress functions)
- •15. Граматична категорія числа в системі англійської мови (The category of number in the system of the English language)
- •16. The problem of gender in English
- •17. Case as the grammatical category
- •18. Basic semantic types of the Genitive case in the English language
- •19. Tense and aspect as grammatical categories of the English verb
- •20. Voice in the system of the English verb
- •21. The classification of the simple sentences in English
- •22. Compound sentence and types of coordination
- •23. Complex sentence as a polypredicative construction
- •24. Onomatopoeia as one of the phonetic expressive means
- •25. The synonymous phenomenon in the English language
- •26. The traditional classification of homonyms in English
- •27. Abbreviation as one of the means of word formation in English
- •28. Contraction as one of the ways of shortening
- •29. Conversion as one of the means of affixless derivation
- •30. Явище алітерації та асонансу в англійській мові (The phenomenon of alliteration and assonance in English)
16. The problem of gender in English
The category of gender is expressed in English by the obligatory correlation of nouns with the personal pronouns of the third person. The category of gender is presented by masculine, feminine, and neuter genders. Masculine gender comprises nouns denoting male sex (father, brother). Feminine gender comprises nouns denoting female sex (sister, mother). Inanimate nouns and animate non-person nouns (animals) belong to neuter gender. Thus, gender in English is defined by the meaning of the words. English nouns have no grammatical inflexions for denoting gender.
Besides, English nouns can show the sex of their referents lexically: 1) some special words are added to a word to denote the gender in English: boy, male, man, he, tom, bull, cock (boy-friend, male-reader, man-servant, man-producer, he-wolf, tom-cat, tom-swan, bull-calf, cock-sparrow); girl, female, woman, maid, she, cow, hen (girl-friend, female reader, female child, woman-producer, woman-teacher, washer-woman, maid-servant, she-bear, cow-calf, hen-sparrow); 2) by suffixal derivation, i.e. some morphemes are added to a word to denote the gender in English: -ess, -ix (actress, lioness, directrix, executrix). The category of gender is strictly oppositional. It is formed by two oppositions. One opposition functions in the whole set of nouns, dividing them into person (human) nouns and non-person (non-human) nouns. The other opposition functions in the subset of person nouns only, dividing them into masculine nouns and feminine nouns. Thus, the first, general opposition can be referred to as the upper opposition in the category of gender, while the second, partial opposition can be referred to as the lower opposition in this category.
The strong member of the upper opposition is the human subclass of nouns (“person”, or “personality”). The weak member of the opposition comprises both inanimate and animate non-person nouns. Here belong such nouns as tree, mountain, love, etc.; cat, swallow, ant, etc.; crowd, association, etc.; bull and cow, cock and hen, horse and mare, etc. The strong member of the lower opposition is the feminine subclass of person nouns ( “female sex”). Here belong such nouns as woman, girl, mother, bride, etc. The masculine subclass of person nouns comprising such words as man, boy, father, bridegroom, etc. makes up the weak member of the opposition.
A great many person nouns in English are capable of expression both feminine and masculine person genders by way of the pronominal correlation in question. These are referred to as nouns of the “common gender”. Here belong such words as person, parent, friend, cousin, doctor, president, etc. These words are substituted by pronouns he or she depending on the meaning.
In the plural, all the gender distinctions are neutralized in the immediate explicit expression, though they are rendered obliquely through the correlation with the singular.
As we see, the category of gender in English is semantic, i.e. meaningful in so far as it reflects the actual features of the named objects.