Are there nouns that change meaning based on gender?When is “diēs” masculine, when is it feminine, and...

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Are there nouns that change meaning based on gender?


When is “diēs” masculine, when is it feminine, and why can this word take different genders?Where do the plurals of locus come from?Is there a gender-neutral pronoun for people in Latin?How are adjectives shown to agree in gender with a noun?Good examples of common gender nounsAre there Latin words for hair color?Is it possible to predict the gender of nouns?Are there any words in Latin that are “light”?When were different agent noun endings used in Ancient Greek?Are there gender-neutral names in Latin?Why there are several words for swimming?






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8















I was looking through a feature in some Romance languages, Spanish and French, where nouns in Spanish change depending on gender. I was wondering if Latin had a few of these.
Here are examples in Spanish and in French.




Particular examples are




  • el consonante: rhyme, la consonante: the consonant (Spanish)


  • le bal: dance, la balle: ball (French)





Nothing contrived such as canis, canis, m/f meaning one is a male dog and the other is female.



Nemo, neminis, m/f and dies, diei, m/f are nouns of ambiguous gender which is a different situation.










share|improve this question









New contributor



Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

















  • 3





    Obligatory Spanish example: ¿Cómo se escribe "papa" en Inglés?

    – Davy M
    yesterday






  • 2





    The most puzzling example to me is that in French people use the male version of "day" to say "hi" and the female to say "bye" (Bonjour / Bonne journée – Bon soir / Bonne soirée).

    – Stian Yttervik
    yesterday




















8















I was looking through a feature in some Romance languages, Spanish and French, where nouns in Spanish change depending on gender. I was wondering if Latin had a few of these.
Here are examples in Spanish and in French.




Particular examples are




  • el consonante: rhyme, la consonante: the consonant (Spanish)


  • le bal: dance, la balle: ball (French)





Nothing contrived such as canis, canis, m/f meaning one is a male dog and the other is female.



Nemo, neminis, m/f and dies, diei, m/f are nouns of ambiguous gender which is a different situation.










share|improve this question









New contributor



Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

















  • 3





    Obligatory Spanish example: ¿Cómo se escribe "papa" en Inglés?

    – Davy M
    yesterday






  • 2





    The most puzzling example to me is that in French people use the male version of "day" to say "hi" and the female to say "bye" (Bonjour / Bonne journée – Bon soir / Bonne soirée).

    – Stian Yttervik
    yesterday
















8












8








8


1






I was looking through a feature in some Romance languages, Spanish and French, where nouns in Spanish change depending on gender. I was wondering if Latin had a few of these.
Here are examples in Spanish and in French.




Particular examples are




  • el consonante: rhyme, la consonante: the consonant (Spanish)


  • le bal: dance, la balle: ball (French)





Nothing contrived such as canis, canis, m/f meaning one is a male dog and the other is female.



Nemo, neminis, m/f and dies, diei, m/f are nouns of ambiguous gender which is a different situation.










share|improve this question









New contributor



Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











I was looking through a feature in some Romance languages, Spanish and French, where nouns in Spanish change depending on gender. I was wondering if Latin had a few of these.
Here are examples in Spanish and in French.




Particular examples are




  • el consonante: rhyme, la consonante: the consonant (Spanish)


  • le bal: dance, la balle: ball (French)





Nothing contrived such as canis, canis, m/f meaning one is a male dog and the other is female.



Nemo, neminis, m/f and dies, diei, m/f are nouns of ambiguous gender which is a different situation.







vocabulary genus






share|improve this question









New contributor



Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.










share|improve this question









New contributor



Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 2 days ago









Joonas Ilmavirta

52.2k12 gold badges74 silver badges310 bronze badges




52.2k12 gold badges74 silver badges310 bronze badges






New contributor



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asked 2 days ago









LennyLenny

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1435 bronze badges




New contributor



Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.




New contributor




Lenny is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.













  • 3





    Obligatory Spanish example: ¿Cómo se escribe "papa" en Inglés?

    – Davy M
    yesterday






  • 2





    The most puzzling example to me is that in French people use the male version of "day" to say "hi" and the female to say "bye" (Bonjour / Bonne journée – Bon soir / Bonne soirée).

    – Stian Yttervik
    yesterday
















  • 3





    Obligatory Spanish example: ¿Cómo se escribe "papa" en Inglés?

    – Davy M
    yesterday






  • 2





    The most puzzling example to me is that in French people use the male version of "day" to say "hi" and the female to say "bye" (Bonjour / Bonne journée – Bon soir / Bonne soirée).

    – Stian Yttervik
    yesterday










3




3





Obligatory Spanish example: ¿Cómo se escribe "papa" en Inglés?

– Davy M
yesterday





Obligatory Spanish example: ¿Cómo se escribe "papa" en Inglés?

– Davy M
yesterday




2




2





The most puzzling example to me is that in French people use the male version of "day" to say "hi" and the female to say "bye" (Bonjour / Bonne journée – Bon soir / Bonne soirée).

– Stian Yttervik
yesterday







The most puzzling example to me is that in French people use the male version of "day" to say "hi" and the female to say "bye" (Bonjour / Bonne journée – Bon soir / Bonne soirée).

– Stian Yttervik
yesterday












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















12















The masculine noun flamen denotes a type of priest. The neuter noun flamen means 'a blast, gust (of wind)' or 'an exhalation, breath.'



Also, generally, the words for various fruit trees and the fruits that they produce differ only in gender. Examples include cerasus (f.), 'cherry tree,' vs. cerasum (n.), 'cherry'; malus (f.), 'apple tree,' vs. malum (n.), 'apple'*; prunus (f.), 'plum tree,' vs. prunum, 'plum'; and cornus (f.), 'cornelian cherry tree,' vs. cornum (n), 'cornelian cherry.'**





* As a masculine noun, malus can also mean 'pole' or 'mast.' I'm excluding forms of the adjective malus from this discussion because the a is short in that word but long in these three.



** There's also the neuter noun cornu, 'knee,' which may overlap in some forms with cornus and cornum.






share|improve this answer



































    8















    In fact, dies does have a slightly different meaning in the two genders.
    The masculine is the more general meaning, but for specific meanings like an appointed special day or day as a deity you need the feminine.
    This division probably has to do with the word being originally masculine but being leveled to feminine gender to conform with the rest of the fifth declension.



    Another common example is the plural of locus.
    The masculine plural loci refers to individual places, whereas loca refers to connected places.
    This has to do with the collective meaning of the neuter plural.
    The two plurals look a little different, but this is similar to the French example you mention.



    For more details, check the related questions on dies and loci/loca.



    For an example related to canis, consider lupus and lupa.
    While they primarily mean "he-wolf" and "she-wolf", the feminine version has the additional meaning of a prostitute but the masculine one does not.



    For yet another example, there are the nouns gallus (a rooster) and galla (a nut or bad wine) in addition to the adjective gallus (Gallic).






    share|improve this answer





















    • 1





      Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

      – cnread
      2 days ago





















    0















    If I got it right, you are asking if there are homophones in Latin. Unsurprisingly, as (I suppose) in any language, there are plenty of them!



    For example, you can find a non-exhaustive list on the Wiktionary.






    share|improve this answer





















    • 1





      Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

      – fdb
      2 days ago











    • fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

      – fdb
      2 days ago











    • I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

      – Luc
      2 days ago














    Your Answer








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    3 Answers
    3






    active

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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    active

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    active

    oldest

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    12















    The masculine noun flamen denotes a type of priest. The neuter noun flamen means 'a blast, gust (of wind)' or 'an exhalation, breath.'



    Also, generally, the words for various fruit trees and the fruits that they produce differ only in gender. Examples include cerasus (f.), 'cherry tree,' vs. cerasum (n.), 'cherry'; malus (f.), 'apple tree,' vs. malum (n.), 'apple'*; prunus (f.), 'plum tree,' vs. prunum, 'plum'; and cornus (f.), 'cornelian cherry tree,' vs. cornum (n), 'cornelian cherry.'**





    * As a masculine noun, malus can also mean 'pole' or 'mast.' I'm excluding forms of the adjective malus from this discussion because the a is short in that word but long in these three.



    ** There's also the neuter noun cornu, 'knee,' which may overlap in some forms with cornus and cornum.






    share|improve this answer
































      12















      The masculine noun flamen denotes a type of priest. The neuter noun flamen means 'a blast, gust (of wind)' or 'an exhalation, breath.'



      Also, generally, the words for various fruit trees and the fruits that they produce differ only in gender. Examples include cerasus (f.), 'cherry tree,' vs. cerasum (n.), 'cherry'; malus (f.), 'apple tree,' vs. malum (n.), 'apple'*; prunus (f.), 'plum tree,' vs. prunum, 'plum'; and cornus (f.), 'cornelian cherry tree,' vs. cornum (n), 'cornelian cherry.'**





      * As a masculine noun, malus can also mean 'pole' or 'mast.' I'm excluding forms of the adjective malus from this discussion because the a is short in that word but long in these three.



      ** There's also the neuter noun cornu, 'knee,' which may overlap in some forms with cornus and cornum.






      share|improve this answer






























        12














        12










        12









        The masculine noun flamen denotes a type of priest. The neuter noun flamen means 'a blast, gust (of wind)' or 'an exhalation, breath.'



        Also, generally, the words for various fruit trees and the fruits that they produce differ only in gender. Examples include cerasus (f.), 'cherry tree,' vs. cerasum (n.), 'cherry'; malus (f.), 'apple tree,' vs. malum (n.), 'apple'*; prunus (f.), 'plum tree,' vs. prunum, 'plum'; and cornus (f.), 'cornelian cherry tree,' vs. cornum (n), 'cornelian cherry.'**





        * As a masculine noun, malus can also mean 'pole' or 'mast.' I'm excluding forms of the adjective malus from this discussion because the a is short in that word but long in these three.



        ** There's also the neuter noun cornu, 'knee,' which may overlap in some forms with cornus and cornum.






        share|improve this answer















        The masculine noun flamen denotes a type of priest. The neuter noun flamen means 'a blast, gust (of wind)' or 'an exhalation, breath.'



        Also, generally, the words for various fruit trees and the fruits that they produce differ only in gender. Examples include cerasus (f.), 'cherry tree,' vs. cerasum (n.), 'cherry'; malus (f.), 'apple tree,' vs. malum (n.), 'apple'*; prunus (f.), 'plum tree,' vs. prunum, 'plum'; and cornus (f.), 'cornelian cherry tree,' vs. cornum (n), 'cornelian cherry.'**





        * As a masculine noun, malus can also mean 'pole' or 'mast.' I'm excluding forms of the adjective malus from this discussion because the a is short in that word but long in these three.



        ** There's also the neuter noun cornu, 'knee,' which may overlap in some forms with cornus and cornum.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited yesterday

























        answered 2 days ago









        cnreadcnread

        9,9301 gold badge12 silver badges29 bronze badges




        9,9301 gold badge12 silver badges29 bronze badges




























            8















            In fact, dies does have a slightly different meaning in the two genders.
            The masculine is the more general meaning, but for specific meanings like an appointed special day or day as a deity you need the feminine.
            This division probably has to do with the word being originally masculine but being leveled to feminine gender to conform with the rest of the fifth declension.



            Another common example is the plural of locus.
            The masculine plural loci refers to individual places, whereas loca refers to connected places.
            This has to do with the collective meaning of the neuter plural.
            The two plurals look a little different, but this is similar to the French example you mention.



            For more details, check the related questions on dies and loci/loca.



            For an example related to canis, consider lupus and lupa.
            While they primarily mean "he-wolf" and "she-wolf", the feminine version has the additional meaning of a prostitute but the masculine one does not.



            For yet another example, there are the nouns gallus (a rooster) and galla (a nut or bad wine) in addition to the adjective gallus (Gallic).






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

              – cnread
              2 days ago


















            8















            In fact, dies does have a slightly different meaning in the two genders.
            The masculine is the more general meaning, but for specific meanings like an appointed special day or day as a deity you need the feminine.
            This division probably has to do with the word being originally masculine but being leveled to feminine gender to conform with the rest of the fifth declension.



            Another common example is the plural of locus.
            The masculine plural loci refers to individual places, whereas loca refers to connected places.
            This has to do with the collective meaning of the neuter plural.
            The two plurals look a little different, but this is similar to the French example you mention.



            For more details, check the related questions on dies and loci/loca.



            For an example related to canis, consider lupus and lupa.
            While they primarily mean "he-wolf" and "she-wolf", the feminine version has the additional meaning of a prostitute but the masculine one does not.



            For yet another example, there are the nouns gallus (a rooster) and galla (a nut or bad wine) in addition to the adjective gallus (Gallic).






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

              – cnread
              2 days ago
















            8














            8










            8









            In fact, dies does have a slightly different meaning in the two genders.
            The masculine is the more general meaning, but for specific meanings like an appointed special day or day as a deity you need the feminine.
            This division probably has to do with the word being originally masculine but being leveled to feminine gender to conform with the rest of the fifth declension.



            Another common example is the plural of locus.
            The masculine plural loci refers to individual places, whereas loca refers to connected places.
            This has to do with the collective meaning of the neuter plural.
            The two plurals look a little different, but this is similar to the French example you mention.



            For more details, check the related questions on dies and loci/loca.



            For an example related to canis, consider lupus and lupa.
            While they primarily mean "he-wolf" and "she-wolf", the feminine version has the additional meaning of a prostitute but the masculine one does not.



            For yet another example, there are the nouns gallus (a rooster) and galla (a nut or bad wine) in addition to the adjective gallus (Gallic).






            share|improve this answer













            In fact, dies does have a slightly different meaning in the two genders.
            The masculine is the more general meaning, but for specific meanings like an appointed special day or day as a deity you need the feminine.
            This division probably has to do with the word being originally masculine but being leveled to feminine gender to conform with the rest of the fifth declension.



            Another common example is the plural of locus.
            The masculine plural loci refers to individual places, whereas loca refers to connected places.
            This has to do with the collective meaning of the neuter plural.
            The two plurals look a little different, but this is similar to the French example you mention.



            For more details, check the related questions on dies and loci/loca.



            For an example related to canis, consider lupus and lupa.
            While they primarily mean "he-wolf" and "she-wolf", the feminine version has the additional meaning of a prostitute but the masculine one does not.



            For yet another example, there are the nouns gallus (a rooster) and galla (a nut or bad wine) in addition to the adjective gallus (Gallic).







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered 2 days ago









            Joonas IlmavirtaJoonas Ilmavirta

            52.2k12 gold badges74 silver badges310 bronze badges




            52.2k12 gold badges74 silver badges310 bronze badges











            • 1





              Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

              – cnread
              2 days ago
















            • 1





              Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

              – cnread
              2 days ago










            1




            1





            Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

            – cnread
            2 days ago







            Gallus also denotes a castrated priest of Cybele

            – cnread
            2 days ago













            0















            If I got it right, you are asking if there are homophones in Latin. Unsurprisingly, as (I suppose) in any language, there are plenty of them!



            For example, you can find a non-exhaustive list on the Wiktionary.






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

              – Luc
              2 days ago
















            0















            If I got it right, you are asking if there are homophones in Latin. Unsurprisingly, as (I suppose) in any language, there are plenty of them!



            For example, you can find a non-exhaustive list on the Wiktionary.






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

              – Luc
              2 days ago














            0














            0










            0









            If I got it right, you are asking if there are homophones in Latin. Unsurprisingly, as (I suppose) in any language, there are plenty of them!



            For example, you can find a non-exhaustive list on the Wiktionary.






            share|improve this answer













            If I got it right, you are asking if there are homophones in Latin. Unsurprisingly, as (I suppose) in any language, there are plenty of them!



            For example, you can find a non-exhaustive list on the Wiktionary.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered 2 days ago









            LucLuc

            1,6616 silver badges20 bronze badges




            1,6616 silver badges20 bronze badges











            • 1





              Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

              – Luc
              2 days ago














            • 1





              Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

              – fdb
              2 days ago











            • I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

              – Luc
              2 days ago








            1




            1





            Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

            – fdb
            2 days ago





            Actually, I do not think any of these are real homonyms. Almost all are words that can be used both as common and proper nouns. Anyway, the question was about homonyms of two different genders.

            – fdb
            2 days ago













            fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

            – fdb
            2 days ago





            fusus (noun) and fusus (participle) are indeed homonyms, but both are masculine.

            – fdb
            2 days ago













            I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

            – Luc
            2 days ago





            I think the question was asked because the website Lenny read presents homophones as something very particular to French, which is quite strange.

            – Luc
            2 days ago










            Lenny is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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