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From: mcv@inter.NL.net (Miguel Carrasquer)
Subject: Re: PIE gender system
Message-ID: <CxMuEw.DwH@inter.NL.net>
Organization: NLnet
References: <37coi2$d2n@larry.rice.edu> <CxILGF.AD4@inter.nl.net> <37jvvo$o8k@ugle.unit.no>
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 22:28:08 GMT
Lines: 23

In article <37jvvo$o8k@ugle.unit.no>,
Jardar Eggesboe Abrahamsen <jardar@nvg.unit.no> wrote:
>In article <CxILGF.AD4@inter.nl.net>,
>Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@inter.NL.net> wrote:
>>The oldest stage in Indo-European (Hittite) shows only
>>a two way division (animate/inanimate).  The animate
>>"gender" was later split into feminine and masculine,
>>mostly by the creation of a special -aH suffix to denote
>>the feminine of nouns and adjectives of the o-stems 
>>(like Latin bonus/bona).  Once this system was created
>>for the adjectives, all other nouns had to follow suit.
>>Some sexist arbitrariness was to be expected.
>
>Could you give a bibliographical reference?
>

Winfred P. Lehmann, "Theoretical Bases of Indo-European Linguistics",
Routledge London/NY, ISBN 0 415 08201 3

-- 
Miguel Carrasquer         ____________________  ~~~
Amsterdam                [                  ||]~  
mcv@inter.NL.net         ce .sig n'est pas une .cig 
