Is goddess is a common gender noun
Answers
Answered by
1
I find myself in a bit of a quandary over at God didn’t say that. Somehow we are not communicating. I threw in the comment that it was a matter of hierarchy, where the gender occurs, and that in nouns of common gender, the meaning is higher in the hierarchy than the gender of the noun. Therefore, anthropos cannot have two meanings on the same level in the hierarchy, one of human, non-gendered, and the other of man, gendered. I hope this image provides some help in what I meant.
It is true that many nouns default to refer to men, or words referring to men, can include women, while words referring to women don’t include men. The system is not symmetrical. However, we still have to consider that there are many common gender nouns in Greek, including theos (god, goddess), ippos (horse), iatros (doctor), diakonos (deacon), apostolos (apostle), etc. So two systems overlap. First, the common gender noun is symmetrical in its ability to refer to a male or female. Second, language has used the male as a default for human beings. But we can’t delete the reality of the first, the fact that the word of common gender equally means a female. I don’t know if this is useful or not.
It is true that many nouns default to refer to men, or words referring to men, can include women, while words referring to women don’t include men. The system is not symmetrical. However, we still have to consider that there are many common gender nouns in Greek, including theos (god, goddess), ippos (horse), iatros (doctor), diakonos (deacon), apostolos (apostle), etc. So two systems overlap. First, the common gender noun is symmetrical in its ability to refer to a male or female. Second, language has used the male as a default for human beings. But we can’t delete the reality of the first, the fact that the word of common gender equally means a female. I don’t know if this is useful or not.
Answered by
2
goddess - feminine gender
Similar questions