Gender Common¶
Summary¶
A word is classified as “common gender” if it can refer to either a grammatically-masculine or a grammatically-feminine person/thing.
Article¶
A word is parsed as “common” (in other systems sometimes “unmarked”), when it has potential to refer to either a masculine or a feminine person or thing. Words classified as “common gender” are usually pronouns or verbs.
Examples¶
In Biblical Hebrew, 1st person personal pronouns are “gender common”.
| אֲנִ֞י נֹותַ֧רְתִּי נָבִ֛יא לַיהוָ֖ה |
| ‘ani nowtharti navi layhwah |
| I I-am-left prophet for-Yahweh |
| I, I alone, am left as a prophet of Yahweh |
In Biblical Hebrew, finite verbs in 1st person conjugation are “gender common”.
| בֵּ֖ית יַעֲקֹ֑ב לְכ֥וּ וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּא֥וֹר יְהוָֽה |
| beth ya’aqov lekhu wenelekhah be’or yehwah |
| House-of Jacob come and-let-us-walk in-light-of Yahweh. |
| House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh. |
In Biblical Hebrew, the plural demonstrative pronoun is “gender common”.
| וְגַם־אֵ֨לֶּה֙ בַּיַּ֣יִן שָׁג֔וּ |
| wegam-‘elleh bayyayin shagu |
| And-also_these in-the-wine reel |
| But even these reel with wine |