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The Noun Morphological composition . Classes of nouns The noun is a word expressing substance in the widest sense of the word. In the concept of substance we include not only names of living beings (boy, girl, cat) and lifeless things (table, book, pen), but also names of abstract notions, qualities, states, actions (kindness, strength, sleep, fear, conversation, fight), abstracted from their bearers. The noun has the following morphological characteristics: Nouns that can be counted have two numbers: singular and plural (pen-pens, tree-trees). Nouns denoting living beings and some nouns denoting lifeless things have two case forms: the common case and the possessive case. It is doubtful whether the grammatical category of gender exists in Modern English for it is hardly ever expressed by means of grammatical forms. Gender can be expressed lexically by means of different words or word-compounds (father-mother, man-woman). The noun has certain syntactical characteristics. The main syntactical functions of the noun in the sentence are those of the subject and object. The student (subject) is reading. The teacher helped the student (object). Besides, a noun may also be used: As a predicative: He is a student. As an attribute: The student’s answer was quite correct. As an adverbial modifier: The teacher stood at his desk. The noun is associated with the following form-words: the article (definite or indefinite): the house, a house; prepositions: in the house, behind the house, about the house. Another characteristic feature of the noun is its association with an adjective which serves as its attribute. It was a clear, cold winter day. Little Dorrit became a very good dressmaker. According to their morphological composition we distinguish simple, derivative and compound nouns. Simple nouns are nouns which have neither prefixes nor suffixes. They are indecomposable: chair, table, room, map, fish, work. Derivative nouns are nouns which have derivative elements (prefixes or suffixes or both): reader, sailor, blackness, childhood, misconduct, inexperience. Compound nouns are nouns built from two or more stems. The main types of compound nouns are as follows: noun-stem + noun-stem: apple-tree, snowball; adjective-stem + noun-stem; blackbird, bluebell; verb-stem + noun-stem: pickpocket; gerund + noun-stem :dining-room, reading-hall. Nouns are divided into: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are the names applied to any individual of a class of living beings or things (a man, a book), materials (snow, iron) or abstract notions (love, friendship). Proper nouns are names given to individuals of a class to distinguish them from other individuals of the same class (John, the Neva, Moscow).Proper nouns may also include a group of individuals (the Russians, the French, the Browns). Common nouns are subdivided into: concrete noun and abstract nouns. Concrete nouns in their turn fall under the following divisions: class-nouns indicating things belonging to a class, such as a man, a girl, a book, a chair; names of materials which do not express separate things but the whole mass of matter: iron, snow, air. Note. -Names of substances can be used as count nouns, singular and plural, when they refer to a kind of the substance or to a portion of it. This is a very good butter (a good kind of butter). You have brought me one butter. I asked for two (butters). (packets of butter) Two teas and three coffees, please! Abstract nouns are often the names of actions, states or qualities formed from corresponding verbs and adjectives: conversation, reading, love, kindness, strength. To the class of abstract nouns belong also nouns which are not derived from adjectives or verbs: time, summer, thunder, day, night, etc. Note. –Abstract nouns may turn into concrete nouns when they represent concrete objects: beauty – a beauty, youth –a youth. To the group of class-nouns belong also collective nouns which denote a number of things collected together so that they may be regarded as a single object (family, crew, company, crowd). These nouns have both numbersSingular: a family, a crowd; plural: families, crowds. When the subject of the sentence is a collective noun in the form of a singular, the predicate verb may be either in the singular or in the plural. The verb is singular if the collective denoted by the noun is taken as a whole unit. The verb is plural if the persons (or things) which form the collective are considered separately: My family is small. The crew consists of two hundred sailors. My family are early risers. The crew were all asleep. Some collective nouns (names of multitude), such as cattle, people, poultry, police, vermin occur only in the singular form but with a plural verb: These cattle are on their way to market. These people are waiting for their passports. But: Churchill wrote a “History of the English-speaking Peoples”. The pygmies were a very friendly people. Police (policemen) are controlling the crowd. Vermin are harmful animals or insects. The poultry are in the yard. Reference to individual members of the group is made thus: a hundred head of cattle, thirty people, fifty police or fifty policemen. A few collective nouns occur only in the singular, but with a singular or plural verb: The clergy, gentry, youth of today is/are trying to adapt itself/themselves to rapidly changing circumstances. Offspring can refer to one human or animal and take a singular verb; or to more than one, with a plural verb; it has no plural form. Folk, meaning ‘people’ occurs mainly in the singular, though also in the plural, but only with a plural verb: Some folk(s) are… Collective nouns Ingredients Archipelago Army Assembly Audience Bale Ball islands soldiers people people cotton, wool, hay, straw wool Band Batch Battalion Bevy Brood Bunch Bundle Cloud Clump Cluster Company Constellation Coppice, copse Corps Covey Crew Deck Flight Flock Grove Heap Herd Horde Kit Litter Mob Pack Pride Shoal Staff Team musicians, robbers loaves soldiers larks, quail, roedeer chicks, nestlings flowers, grapes, bananas rags, newspapers, sticks flying insects trees stars, gems actors, soldiers stars trees soldiers, ballet dancers patridges sailors, oarsmen cards aircraft, stars, steps sheep, birds, geese trees leaves cows, elephants savages, barbarians tools puppies, kittens, piglets, cubs people, rioters wolves, hounds, cards lions fish teachers, servants players, horses, oxen Exercise 1. State the morphological composition of the following nouns. Sandstone, impossibility, widower, snow, exclamation, opinion, misunderstanding, passer-by, inactivity snowball, kingdom, anti-cyclone, mother-of-pearl, immobility, might, warmth, succession, ex-president, nurse, misdeed, wisdom, blackbird, attention, policeman, merry-go-round, girlhood, usefulness, fortune, friendship, statesman, brother-in-law, population, smelling-salt, fellow-boarder. Exercise 2. Define the class the nouns in the following sentences belong to. 1. Raymond Parker was a foreman at the motor works, and was on the management committee. 2. My money was wet but all right. 3. The information that the superintendent gathered was entirely favourable. 4. The police have made up their minds, or practically so. 5. Esther swallowed porridge in silence, feeling quite cold and choked with misery, all because Miss Usher had told her on the way down to breakfast that she would be singing Nicola’s solos. 6. The wines and liqueurs and champagnes of New Orleans were new and exhilarating to her. 7. I thought that amongst those surroundings with their recollections of his boyhood Dirk Stroeve would forget his unhappiness. 8. He saw a light in one window on the ground floor. 9. A pleasure to give a good wine to a young woman who looked so well.10.Health is a priceless possession. Exercise 3. State whether the nouns in bold type are proper or common. 1. That is the best picture in the Louvre. It is exactly like a Manet. 2. You can’t buy a Cadillac for the same price as a Ford. 3. By the time the clock on the tower struck midnight the streets of the city were almost deserted. 4. The group of ancient fortified buildings, collectively termed the Tower, is of the greatest historical interest. It is situated not far from the City. 5. History has dealt with Hitler: history will deal with all would be Hitlers.6. The “Albatross” dropped anchor at a small port to get a new supply of fresh water. 7. The albatross is a large sea-bird. 8. The snow-covered summit was glistening in the rays of the rising sun. 9. There was a town, down there, as flat as a flannel-cake, and called Summit, of course.10. Who knows, you might become the next Pavlova. – What’s that? – She was a great dancer. Exercise 4. State whether the nouns in bold type are countable or uncountable. 1. She was not a beauty, in the sense that several women in this room were beauties: she had none of the remoteness that beauty needs. 2. Herbert looked at the youths, remembered their fathers. 3. Youth, unfortunately, cures itself. 4. He leaned across to throw on coal.5. His eyes glowed redly like twin coals. 6. He noticed her sitting on a big stone. 7. He looked as if he had turned to stone. 8. When John came in he smelt that she was drinking a very good tea. 9. She always had tea brought in rather early. 10. He prefers martini after dinner. 11. The sandwiches came and I ate three and drank a couple more martinis. 12. Their own healths naturally concerned them most. Exercise 5. Explain the usage of the verbs and the nouns. 1. Machinery new to the industry in Belarus was introduced for preparing land. 2. That green foliage was not restful. 3. Unless cattle are in good condition in calving, milk production will never reach a high level. 4. A small crowd is lined up to see the guests arrive.5. Crowds of people were pouring from a variety of quarters.6. My family is now in the country. 7. It was 11 o’clock before the family were all in bed. 8. Then one by one the worn out crew were helped on board. 9. The crew of the ship consists of twenty seamen including the captain and his mate. 10. No one had seen him since and the police were searching for him. 11. The band were changed, and in the gallery already. 12. And Stilleveld, in company with the many other places like it, had also been the birthplace of a new people.13. Hundreds of people gathered on the banks of the river. 14. All the peoples throughout the world are anxious for the safety of our lives. 15. Offspring of our cat were playing on the lawn. 16. Some vermin are dangerous for people.17. My folk are vegetarians. 18. The board are very kind to them. Gender In Modern English there is no grammatical gender. The noun does not possess any special gender forms, neither does the accompanying adjective, pronoun or article indicate any gender agreement with the head-noun: a little boy, a little girl, a little room. What is still traditionally called gender in English is a division of nouns into three classes according to their lexical meaning: masculine (referred to as he) - names of male beings; feminine (referred to as she) - names of female beings; neuter (referred to as it) - names of lifeless things and abstract notions: Masculine : father, boy, brother. Feminine : mother, girl, sister. Neuter: table, lamp, kindness, friendship. The only exceptions are the nouns child and baby which are sometimes referred to as it: The child has broken its toy. The baby fell and hurt its foot. Thus we see that gender in English is expressed lexically by means of different words: father, mother, book. There is practically only one gender-forming suffix in English, the suffix –ess expressing feminine gender. Its chief use to distinguish persons (host-hostess, heir-heiress) and a few animals (lion-lioness, tiger-tigress). There are nouns which may be applied to both males and females: Human beings: teacher, doctor, friend, servant, parent, neighbour, stranger, student, clerk, novelist, etc. Animals: wolf, elephant, bear, sparrow, eagle. When it is desirable to restrict those nouns to one sex, a word is added denoting the sex and thus forming a compound: Girl-friend, boy-friend; man-servant, maid-servant; girl-student; woman-clerk; He-wolf, she-wolf; male-elephant, female-elephant; cock-sparrow, hensparrow. Sometimes proper nouns are used with the names of animals to show the sex: jack-ass, jenny-ass; billy-goat, nanny-goat; tom-cat, pussy-cat. A girl-friend of mine called the other day. A boy-messenger brought me the letter this morning. Bill took his gun and aimed at the beast but shewolf leaped into the forest. Words indicating professions which formerly were used with reference only to male beings are now used as well when speaking of women owing to the extension of the activities of women in all fields: doctor, engineer, journalist, foreman, driver. My daughter is a journalist. Ann is a pilot. Gender of Nouns Denoting Animals All nouns denoting animals may be considered neuter. We found the horse in its stable. That dog always showed a cat-like dread of wet feet, as it had been suckled and reared by a cat. The pigeon flapped its wings. The sheep returned to its fold. The lower the animal in the scale, the more exclusive is the noun denoting it referred to in the neuter gender. Nouns denoting birds, fishes, insects and reptiles are generally considered as neuter: The butterfly opened its wings. The snake crept into its hole. In spoken language there is a tendency to associate the names of animals with the feminine and masculine gender: When the noun indicates the sex of the animal it is generally spoken of as he or she: Masculine: lion, tiger, bull; also with proper names of animals: Rover, Jack. Feminine: lioness, tigress, cow; Jenny. The tiger approached the camp: his dreadful roar made us shudder. Our tom-cat is a beautiful creature; he has a silky black coat and a fluffy tail. The bull lowered his head and made rumbling noises in his throat. Our dog is called Jenny; she is of a very good breed. When the sex of the animal is not indicated by the noun, nouns denoting the larger and bolder animals are generally associated with the masculine gender, nouns denoting the smaller and weaker with the feminine: Masculine: elephant, horse, dog, eagle. Feminine: cat, hare, parrot. But: canary-he, fly-he. The elephant lifted his mighty trunk. The eagle left his rocky nest. The cat has upset her milk. The air was so clear and pleasant, and the horse seemed to like the idea of the ride so much himself, as he stood snorting and pawing at the garden gate, that I had a great desire to go. (Dickens.) Names of animals are associated with feminine gender when their maternal instinct is referred to: A bird betrays her nest when trying to conceal it. The cat tried to guard her young. The swallow was teaching her young how to fly. In fairy tales and fables the gender of nouns denoting animals depends on the general characteristics ascribed to the animals: ‘Wait a minute, ‘said the monkey proudly, ‘I can climb. ’He ran quickly up the tree and threw the rich ripe fruit to the ground. There was once a fat old cricket, who thought a good deal of himself. He had such a big, shining body, and a way of chirping so loud, that no one could ever forget where he lived. Next day the Rabbit went to see his friend the Sable: she had many daughters and forest people always came to see her. ‘One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he stayed behind for he was in love with the most beautiful Reed. He had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her.’ (O. Wilde.) ‘The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the rain and singing a Sailor-song to herself. She stopped singing and started to listen.’ (Hugh Lofting.) ‘September felt her heart go thump, thump against her chest, and she made up her mind to take no more risks. She put her hand and took hold of the bird. This he was quite used to, she liked feeling his heart go pit-a-pat, so fast, in the hollow of her hand, and I think he liked the soft warmth of her little hand.’ (W. S. Maugham.) Gender of Nouns Denoting Inanimate Things and Abstract Notions. (Personification) Sometimes inanimate things and abstract notions are personified and the nouns denoting them are referred to as belonging to the masculine or feminine gender. Here are some traditional associations: The nouns moon and earth are referred to as feminine, sun as masculine: It is pleasant to watch the sun in his chariot of gold, and the moon in her chariot if pearl. (Wilde.) The moon glittered as she rolled through the deep vault of a cloudless sky. The sun came out in all his glory. At first the earth was large and shone in the heavens filling a great part of them, but every moment she grew smaller and more distant. (Wells.) People need to rise early to see the sun in all his splendour, for his brightness seldom lasts the day through. (Irving.) The earth awoke from her winter sleep. The names of vessels (ship, boat, steamer, etc.) are feminine: She is a good boat. We saw a ship in the distance; she was sailing west. The ice-breaker, already widely known for her previous Polar exploits, has been converted into a comfortable passenger boat. As I saw the ship staggering among these roaring caverns, it seemed miraculous that she retained her balance. (Irving.) The names of other vehicles (carriage, coach, car, plane, hovercraft) are also sometimes made feminine or masculine by men or women respectively. (But ‘shuttle’-it.) She is a fine car (a motorist-man–of his car). My car is my friend: he saves my time (a motorist-women-of her car). ‘It’ may be used for person nouns if we mean not a person but the social position, status, rank. She is the managing direct or and looks it. ‘It’ is closely associated with the absence of individuality and is often used scornfully. The names of countries are usually referred to as feminine, especially when the country is not considered as a mere territory: As a fruit-growing country, the Crimea is especially distinguished for her grapes; she can also grow peaches, pears, and plums to perfection. France sent her representative to the conference. But: Ireland is an island; on three sides it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. When abstract notions are personified, the masculine gender is given to nouns suggesting such ideas as strength, fierceness, etc.,while the feminine is associated with the idea of gentleness, beauty, etc.: Masculine: anger, death, fear, war, love. Feminine: spring, peace, kindness, dawn. ‘As I heard the waves rushing along the sides of the ship, and roaring in my very ear, it seemed as if death were raging round this floating prison seeking for his prey.’ (Irving.)”So the hail came… . He was dressed in grey and his breath was like ice.’ (Wilde.) ‘The autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none.’ (Wilde.)’Remembrance wakes with all her busy train.’ (Goldsmith.) Ex.1. Insert the appropriate pronouns where possible: 1. The sun came up upon the left. Out of the sea came (---) And (---) shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea. (Coleridge.) 2. The lion came nearer: (---) dreadful roar made us shudder. 3. At sunset we stopped waiting for the moon to rise. At ten (---) came up beautiful and serene as ever. 4. About a quarter of a mile out lay a boat, with (---) sails half down. 5. Poland sent (---) representatives to the conference. 6. The sun revolves one revolution around (---) axis once every 25 days. 7. The camel is inestimable for long desert journeys, for (---) has a strong power of endurance. 8. I was first on the beach; the dog came to me at once, (---) tail almost in (---) mouth from apology. 9. Like a skilful surgeon, the wasp knows just what to do, knows in what part of the head to insert (---) sting, to produce the desired effect. Ways of Indicating Gender There are various ways of indicating the belonging of the noun to the feminine gender as opposition to the non-expression of the feminine gender is understood as belonging to the masculine gender. They are: suffixes, compound words of a certain structure, different words. The suffixes –ess, -ine, -ix, -ina, ette mark the feminine gender: Abbot-abbess, actor-actress, administrator-administratrix, authorauthoress, aviator-aviatrix, baron-baroness, conductor-conductress, countcountess, czar-czarina, deacon-deaconess, duke-duchess, earl-countess, emperor-empress, executor-executrix, giant-giantess, god-goddess, heirheiress, hero-heroine, host-hostess, hunter-huntress, instructor-instructress, manager-manageress, marquis-marquess, marchioness, mayor-mayoress, mister-mistress, murderer-murderess, negro-negress, ogre-ogress, patronpatroness, peer-peeress, poet-poetess, priest-priestess, prince-princess, prophet-prophetess, proprietor-proprietress, shepherd-shepherdess, sorcerer- sorceress, steward-stewardess, sultan-sultana, tailor-tailoress, traitor-traitress, testator-testatrix, tutor-tutoress, usher-usherette, waiterwaitress. The suffix –er marks the masculine gender: widow-widower. Gender is expressed in compound words with the second component – man, -woman, -boy, -maid, -girl, -lord, -lady, -cock, -hen: Barman-barmaid, cashboy-cashgirl, landlord-landlady, peacockpeahen, washerman-washerwoman. The masculine noun ‘bridegroom’ is opposed to the feminine noun ‘bride’,fiancé to fiancée, rajah to ranee, beau to belle, blond to blonde, masseur to masseuse. A nurse was traditionally treated as feminine, to indicate a man doing this kind of job ‘a male nurse’ should be used.’ Engineer’ was traditionally meant as masculine, ‘a woman engineer’ is used for a lady. ‘Boyfriend’, ‘girlfriend’ have specific connotations. There are different words for creatures of male and female sex: manwoman, lad-lass, brother-sister, bachelor-spinster, father-mother, husbandwife, son-daughter, nephew-niece, uncle-aunt, gentleman-lady, sir-madam, boy-girl, friar, monk-nun, male-female, wizard, warlock, witch, king-queen, fox-vixen. As a rule the feminine noun differs from the corresponding masculine counterpart not only in the expression of another sex, but has other overtones and even meanings. Here are some of the meanings of the nouns in the mentioned pairs: Lord-supreme male ruler; God; Lady-woman belonging to upper classes; woman who has good manners and some claim to social position; (GB) used of and to wives or daughters of some nobles; Master-man who has others working for him and under him; male head of the household; captain of a merchant ship; male teacher; male owner of a dog, the Master-Jesus Christ; Mistress-woman at the head of the household or family; woman in authority who gives orders to servants, woman school teacher; woman having regular sexual intercourse with one man to whom she is not married; Governor-person who governs a province or a colony or (US) state, headmaster; Governess-woman who is employed to teach young children in a private family; Witch-woman said to use magic, esp. for evil purposes; fascinating and bewitching woman; Wizard-magician; person with amazing abilities. To express some male or female animals different words are used. There is often a quartet: the name of the male, the name of the female, the name of the young and the common name. Male Common Boar Bull, steer calf Cock, rooster, capon Dog Drake Gander Ram Stag, buck Stallion, gelding Female Young sow cow piglet heifer, calf hen bitch duck goose ewe hind, doe mare chicken puppy duckling gosling lamb buck, doe foal, colt, filly pig cattle, chicken dog duck goose sheep deer horse Underlined words are used for a male that has been castrated. Some more examples: Common Ass Bear Cat Elephant Fox Goat Hare Leopard Lion Otter Male jack-ass he-ass he-bear tom-cat bull dog-fox billy-goat, he-goat buck leopard lion dog-otter Female jenny-ass she-ass she-bear tabby-cat, pussy-cat cow vixen, bitch fox nanny-goat, she-goat doe leopardess lioness bitch otter Peacock Pigeon Rabbit Rhinoceros Robin Seal Sparrow Swan Walrus Whale Wolf peacock cock buck bull cock bull cock cock bull bull dog-wolf he-wolf peahen hen doe cow hen cow hen hen cow cow bitch-wolf she-wolf Ex.2. Define the gender of the nouns. Friend, ship, tiger, tigress, mother, teacher, club, president, cat, dog, man-servant, commander-in-chief, maid-servant, book, cloud, actor, hostess, tabby cat, he-wolf, duck, head, man, boy, actress, professor, librarian, animal, mother-in-law, fly, mouse, canary, mare, sow, ewe, ranee, nun, sun, moon, England, parrot, horse, moth, snake, hare, love, war, spring, winter. Ex.3. Male nouns are given in the following list. Do they have corresponding female nouns? Author, count, giant, host, manager, negro, shepherd, traitor, baron, duke, god, poet, master, prince, tailor, tutor, conductor, emperor, headmaster, instructor, Mayor, governor, steward, waiter, czar, friar, chairman, sultan, patron, aviator, chairman, gentleman, heir, rajah, executor, patron, marquis, testator, administrator, hunter, hero, usher. Ex.4. The following nouns are exceptions and the corresponding female nouns are different. Bachelor, sir, husband, man-servant, son, bridegroom, father, king, monk, uncle, brother, hero, lord, nephew, widower. Ex.5. The nouns denote animals. Do they have corresponding female nouns? Bull, leopard, tom-cat, cock, lion, he-wolf, tiger, boar, gander, drake, ram, rooster, stag, stallion, dog-otter, jack-ass, peacock, dog-fox, billy-goat. Ex.6. Supply the missing words. Refer to this list as little as possible. Actress, aunt, bachelor, bridegroom, cows, daughter, female, goddess, hens, heroine, heiress, lionesses, mares, nephew, nieces, nuns, prince, queens, ram, saleswoman, sister, sow, spinster, uncle, waitress, widower. 1. John’s brother is a bank clerk and his --- is a nurse. 2. My aunt is very nice and my --- has a wonderful sense of humour. 3. My --- is a little boy of four; my niece is a little girl of two. 4. My father’s brother and sister have never married. He’s still a --- and she’s a --- .5. These days, few men become monks and few women become --- .6. There is only one bull in the field, but there are dozens of --- .7. The cock crows at dawn and wakes up all the --- .8. The stallion is in a separate stable from the --- .9. We call the boar Henry and we call the --- Jemima.10. The ewes look quiet enough, but I don’t like the look of that --- .11. Tony is an actor and his wife is an --- .12. John and Jane work in a restaurant; he is a waiter and she is a --- .13. In fairy tales the handsome --- usually marries the beautiful princess. 14. We went to a wildlife park and saw a lot of lions and --- .15. In mythology, Mars is the god of war; Diana is the --- of hunting. 16. Katerina is the --- to her father’s fortune. 17. Why does everyone expect the hero of the story to marry the ---? 18. A widow can often manage much better on her own than a --- .19. A --won the award for most sales this month; a salesman came second. 20. When you look at fish, it’s often difficult to distinguish between male and --- .21. Very few people know the names of the kings and --- of England. 22. I took a photo of the bride and --- at the wedding. 23. The Smiths have a son called Robert and a --- called Jill. 24. My uncle and --- are over here from Canada. 25. I enjoy being an uncle. I have two --- and three nephews. Language and Gender Sometimes people object to words for occupations and professions that are marked to indicate sex differences since they think that men and women are not treated in the same way. Speech and writing that make unnecessary distinctions based on sex are called sexist language. The word ‘Mr’ does not show whether or not a man is married whereas ‘Mrs’ is used for a married woman and ‘Miss’ for a single woman making the distinction of a woman’s social position. The term ‘Ms’ was suggested as a compromise. ‘He’, ‘him,’ ‘his’ can refer to a male or a female or to someone whose sex is unknown. The child has lost his toy. The student paid his subscription fee. To avoid the use of the masculine marker for someone who may be a female, an article or another determiner can be used instead. The child has lost the toy. Sometimes either ‘he/she’ or ‘his/her’ is used. Every student has to pay his/her subscription fee. There are three possible ways to indicate gender of the noun of a dual gender. 1. When a relative arrives, he will be let in and his arrival will be welcome by everyone. 2. When a relative arrives, he or she will be let in and his or her arrival will be welcome by everyone. 3. When a relative arrives, they will be let in and their arrival will be welcome by everyone. The use of ‘he’ in the first sentence is considered sexist; the use of ‘he and she,’ is a bit awkward, especially in speech; in the third case ‘they’ is used with a singular meaning which is incorrect, but still quite common, especially in informal English. The language reflects the situation in society. Societal change and language change go hand in hand. This explains the possibility of one sentence and the impossibility of the other one: I pronounce you man and wife (not: man and woman, husband and wife, woman and husband), the pronouncement gives a picture of woman as man’s possession. Mary is a divorcee (not: John is a divorce). Mrs. John Smith (not: Mr. Mary Smith). She is John’s widow (not: He is Mary’s widower). ‘Man’ was originally fully generic (Man breakfasts his young; One man, one vote) but over years it stopped being felt as such and this masculine bias can sound odd to a speaker of English. ‘Lady’ is used out of exaggerated politeness since a woman of high station and breeding was traditionally meant. Some people dislike to use ‘lady’ because of its connection with class distinctions. To some people ‘lady’ is synonymous with good manners. ‘Female’ is used in an official, scientific or clinical contexts for a person, plant, animal that bears young. Traditional social roles were formerly expressed by compound nouns with –man or –woman as the second component of the noun. A neutral form for both sexes is preferred by most people now as they object to terms that show the sex of the person who is doing the work. Traditional male neutral Chairman Barman Businessman Fireman Headmaster Postman worker Salesman Spokesman Steward Bachelor Fiancé To man Man-hours ----Foreman Manpower Mankind Man and wife Traditional female Non-sexist chairwoman barmaid businesswoman ----headmistress postwoman chair (person) bartender businessperson fire fighter head (teacher) postie/postal saleswoman spokeswoman stewardess/air hostess spinster fiancée --------cleaning lady ----------------- salesperson spokesperson flight attendant unmarried/single partner to staff working hours cleaner supervisor human resources human race man and woman Male vs. Female Language A woman has a figure, a man has a physique; A father roars in rage, a mother shrieks in pique; And female bosses supervise, male bosses boss. Lads gulp, maids sip; Jack plunge, Jills dip; Guys bark, dames snap; Boys punch, girls slap; Gobs swab, Waves mop; Braves buy, squaws shop. A gentleman perspires, a lady merely glows; A husband is suspicious; a wife, however, knows. From “Odds and Ends” American English Ex.7. Change the wording to make it neutral. Now! Eagle Airlines offers even more to the businessman who needs comfort. Let us fly you to your destination in first-class comfort, looked after by the best-trained air hostesses in the world. Any businessman knows that he must arrive fresh and ready for work no matter how long the journey. With Eagle Diplomat-Class you can do just that. And, what’s more, your wife can travel with you on all intercontinental flights for only 25% of the normal fare! Yоur secretary can book you on any flights 24 hours a day on 0557465769. All she has to do is lift the phone. Ex.8. These words include some that many people consider sexist. Put the words into appropriate pairs with their neutral alternatives: Cabin attendant Man-hours Unmanned Air hostess Unstaffed spinster human beings single woman mankind person-hours Ex.9. Make this letter neutral. The Manager Frinstowe Engineering Ltd 7/11/10 Dear Sir, I am a spinster aged 29 and am seeking employment. I saw your advertisement for part-time workers in the Globe last week. However, your24-hour answering service seemed to be unmanned when I tried it. Could you please send me application forms by post? Thank you. Yours sincerely, Sally Hewings (Miss) Words relating to gender Male, female – used for gender classification in biology Male and female bees Masculine, feminine – having qualities felt to be typically male or female Masculine pride, feminine charm Manly, womanly – having positive qualities felt to be typically male or female Manly strength, womanly grace Virile – manly (usually used in a sexual context) Handsome and virile men Effeminate – resembling a woman (used of men, negative) His effeminate walk Mannish – resembling a man (used of women, negative) Her mannish haircut A tomboy – a young girl who behaves and dresses like a boy She’s a real tomboy. A sissy – a boy who behaves like a girl, or a weak and cowardly person )informal, negative) He’s such a sissy! Butch – used of men and women, aggressively masculine in looks and behaviour (informal) Butch stars of cowboy films Ex.10. A modern editor would probably alter these sentences. How would this be done? 1. Three firemen helped put out a fire at a disused warehouse last night.2. A spokesman for the Department of Education provided us with a statement. 3. Cleaning lady wanted for house in Priory Street. 4. The switchboard is continuously manned even during holiday periods. 5. All our air hostesses are fluent in at least three languages. 6. Miss Jones is in charge of the Manpower Department of the company. 7. Policemen today spend more time in cars than on the beat. 8. Brenda’s husband is a male nurse. 9. It took a great many man-hours to clean up the stadium after the concert.10. This was a great step for mankind. 11. The man in the street has little time for such issues. 12. They manhandled the hostage into the van. Ex.11. Circle the best of the underlined words to complete each sentence. 1. That suit makes her look rather mannish/manly. 2. Go on, jump. Don’t be such a tomboy/sissy! 3. Younger men are said to be more male/virile than older ones. 4. She always dresses in a very feminine/effeminate way. You never see her in trousers. 5. The masculine/male cat is less aggressive than his sister. Ex.12. Answer these questions. 1. Does your language ever use male words generically? 2. If so, have there been attempts to change them to avoid sexual stereotyping? 3. Do you think that using sex-biased words does affect people’s attitudes to men and women’s roles in society? 4. How do you feel about imposing language changes of the different kinds? 5. Do you think it is better if terms of address indicate marital status or not? Why? Literature: 1. M.Ganshina and N.Vasilevskaya. English Grammar.Moscow Foreign Language Publishing House, 1958., p.471 2. А.Новый. Словарь трудностей английского языка .ТТО «Катриона»,С-П,1996 3. Л.А.Куликовская. Консультации по английской грамматике,»Москва»,»Наука»,1999. 4. Морфология, Сборник упражнений по практической грамматике английского языка, составитель В.О.Французова, Минск,ООО «Лексис»,2003