Page Under Construction
The page will be an overview of two "special credit" aspects of gender assignment- 1. the "endearing" use of the feminine gender (and rarely male gender) for some common-gender nouns, and 2. the use of 'den' (the old-fashioned masculine gender) with some common-gender "folksy" nouns.
The arbitrary assignment of a female (or male) gender to some common-gender nouns occurs only with mono-syllable nouns, (because in the case of multisyllable nouns, a female/male-gender classification is pre-determined by their suffixes). Such "endeared" mono-syllable nouns are things that are often spoken of fondly and are often given proper names- such as "Golden Gate" bridge.
|
|
Dé Stad- (City) of San Francisco |
|
|
|
Dé Brug- Golden Gate (Bridge) |
|
| Almost all "endearment" nouns are female. The only male "endearment" nouns refer to complex mechanical things, ie. road and space vehicles, complex machines, or firearms. (Bicycles are optional.
Note: The accent over the é in 'Dé' in the picture captions is meant to emphasize the uniqueness of each of the pictures.
This page is meant to complement the www.zoot.co web site.
|
The use of the 'den' for male nouns following prepositions in Flemish is VERY complex. The spectrum among native speakers varies from almost never in academic or official speech, such as in television news reports, to occasionally in colloquial speech.
The "Calidocious solution" to finding a one-size-fits-all use of "den" for second-language learners is to limit the use of "den" to just a handful of common "slang" terms. For example: "Hij fliegt in den bak" (He goes to prison.), or "Ik heb den boel (short for 'boedel') opgeblasen."
As a foreign language student becomes attuned to the nuances of the local dialect of the area in Flanders where he/she is studying, the student can gradually begin to add "den" to his/her speech.
|
|
Dé Baai- San Francisco (Bay) |
|
|
|
Dé Straat- Lombard (Street) |
|
|
|
Dé Bloem- (flower) Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Note: 'Bloem' doesn't belong to the class of "Flowers, Nuts, and Fruits", even though specific flowers do. |
|
|
|
Dé Boot- The Carl Vinson Aircraft Carrier (boat) during "Fleet Week" festivities in San Francisco Bay. |
|
|
|
Dé Kerk-(church) Founded in 1776, the San Francisco mission became the major Catholic (Church) west of the Mississippi. The church on the right was destroyed during the 1906 earthquake. |
|
|
|
Dé Krant-(newspaper) Two of the Hearst (Newspaper)s at the height of the Hearst Newspaper empire. |
|
|
|
Dé School- University of Calif. (School) at Berkeley |
|
|
|
Dé Vlag- Gay Pride (flag) |
|
|
|
Dé Rivier-(river)- (a rare multi-syllable "endeared" noun) The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow into San Francisco Bay |
|
|
|
Dé Golf-(wave). The 'Mavericks' surf contest is held just down the coast from San Francisco. |
|
|
|
Dé Zee-(Lake or Sea) The Pacific Ocean |
|
| Footnotes: Although "bodies of water" could be considered to be one of the feminine classes discussed in the www.zoot.co site, there are numerous non-feminine exceptions.
These include Oceaan-neuter, Vijver-(pond)-male, Kanaal-(canal)-neuter, Moeras-(swamp)-neuter, Plas-(puddle)-male, etc..
Most sorts of ships can arbitrarily be treated as female objects, even if they are neuter or male, and are single- or multi-syllable. Examples include schip-(ship)-neuter, aak-(barge)-masculine, and 'treiler'-(trawler)-male.
|
|
Dé Stad- "THE" (City) from above- with San Francisco Bay in the foreground, the Pacific Ocean to the upper left (North-West), and the Marin Hills to the North-East. |
|
|
|
|