WEB-ресурс научно-практических конференций

Zhebchuk I.V.

Chernivtsi National Yuri Fedkovych University

THE ISSUE OF NOUNS OF DUAL GENDER IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Gender has been a widely studied topic along the history of linguistics due to the close relationship is bears to reality. On the one hand, some studies have focused on the linguistic reflection of the historical repression over women, arguing for a gender-neutral language. On the other hand, closely connected with this, other works have dealt strictly with the linguistic side of gender, i.e. how biological sex is expressed in the language [2 ;144 ]. This subject and its treatment seem to us particularly appropriate here for a number of reasons. Firstly, because gender is in many ways unpredictable; it is not universally present in language, for some languages have never had gender (for example, Chinese), and others have lost it. In fact, even though gender is common in Indo-European languages, it is often differently motivated and, therefore, differently assigned. Why this is so remains an open question today, although the dominant view is that probably not as a result of different cultural backgrounds, which have sometimes been held responsible for the different gender interpretation of universal notions such as, for example, death (masculine in German - der Tod -, feminine in Spanish -la muerte -, and neuter in English -the death) Secondly, because although gender has a direct influence on the morphology and the syntax of languages, very little has been discerned about this topic since the classical grammars [4;103].

In modern English remains a number of words capable of expressing their gender lexically, i.e. by their meaning. They are animate personal nouns denoting human beings. Peculiar phenomenon of Modern English period is the growing number of nouns referred to as nouns of dual or common gender, i.e. they can be both masculine and feminine depending on the context they occur in. Their gender is differentiated by means of correlation with pronouns or contextually . “The category of gender is expressed in English? by the obligatory correlation of noun with the personal pronouns of the third person?” [3; 220].

As society develops , the number of nouns of common gender increases. This is connected with the tendency to avoid politically incorrect lexis. Thus we can state that while morphemic way of gender expression was reduced due to language development, lexical expression may be ousted due to the changes of the social environment [2; 146].

The noun suggests without basis that a person's sex is relevant to the identified role. That can marginalize, trivialize, or demean women. For example, a word like "actress" marginalizes female performers, making them seem different from the norm of "actors." Recognizing this problem, many female performers now refer to themselves as "actors." Similarly, a judge I knew attempted to trivialize women lawyers by calling them " lawyeresses ." And the terms "bachelor" and "spinster" demean single women by connoting that a bachelor is a desirable companion, while a spinster has simply failed at attracting a man.

With a little effort, a writer can adopt more gender-neutral language. Gendered kin-terms fall into in a different category. "Mother" and "father" are appropriate because they convey parents' distinct biological roles. Even "sister," "brother," "aunt," and "uncle" still remain appropriate. Thus I would not avoid the gendered word "uncle" by writing an absurdity like "My parent's sibling came for dinner on Sunday." And although there seems to be less reason to distinguish between "King" and "Queen," I continue to use these terms. Referring to "the ruler and the ruler's spouse" seems disturbingly sterile [1; 120].

References:

1. Верба Л. Г. Історія англійської мови: посібник для студентів та викладачів вищих навч . закладів. - Вінниця: Нова книга, 2004. - 304 с

2. Садовник Н.В. Вираження категорії роду в давньоанглійській та сучасній англійській мовах // Актуальні проблеми філології та перекладознавства : Збірник праць та доповідей Всеукраїнської наукової конференції (12-13 травня 2005). - Хмельницький: ХНУ, 2005. - С.144-146.

3. Baron D. Grammar and Gender. – New York , 1986. – 360p.

4. Spender D. Man made language. – London : Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980. – 132p.