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What's the point of gendered words in certain languages? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by TheDarkKnight@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I know a lot of languages have some aspects that probably seem a bit strange to non-native speakers…in the case of gendered words is there a point other than “just the way its always been” that explains it a bit better?

I don’t have gendered words in my native language, and from the outside looking in I’m not sure what gendered words actually provide in terms of context? Is there more to it that I’m not quite following?

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[-] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago

English is nice.

English hates you. And me. It just hates. If you think it’s being nice, that’s because it’s trying to lull you into a false sense of security.

[-] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Though I was born and raised in the US, my first language was Spanish. All I ever knew my entire childhood was that at home we spoke Spanish. I learned English via tv, books, and then school. Fast forward to now, I recently came back from a 2.5 week trip to Brazil. I loved Brazil, the Portuguese language, and the people in Brazil. Still, when I got to the airport in the US and heard the PA say something in English, it felt so calm. English is a calm language to me. I hadn't realized it until that moment.

[-] radix@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Hey, at least "they" for a group of people doesn't imply the genders of each person in that group (I'm thinking of Spanish ellos/ellas).

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023

110 points (87.2% liked)

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