… eine höchst bemerkenswerte Erscheinung, die nur in flektierenden Sprachen anzutreffen ist, das ist das grammatische Geschlecht. (Grammatical gender occurs only in flexive languages).
Standardized
IF there is grammatical gender, THEN morphology is flexive.
Keywords
flexion, gender
Domain
inflection
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
languages mentioned in Meinhof 1936, primarily Meinhof’s “Semiten-” and “Hamitensprachen” in comparison with other lgs of Africa and of Europe
1. See similar statements by Moravcsik 1994 (#389), Renault 1987b (#589).2. “Flektierende Sprachen” according to Meinhof have four characteristics:(i) inflection, i.e. declension and conjugation;(ii) “Bildungselemente, die keine selbständige Bedeutung mehr haben” (i.e., genuine affixes, rather than function words also retaining content word uses);(iii) “Veränderlichkeit des Wortstammes”, especially “innerer Vokalwechsel” (see #1676);(iv) “Mannigfaltigkeit der Pluralbildung” (i.e., plural allomorphy) (see #1673).It is possible, though not mandatory, to read him as claiming that there is an implicational chain among them:(iv) … (iii) … (ii) … (i) That is, his “flektierende Sprachen” are not necessarily “flexive” in the sense of having cumulation, otherwise considered a key property of this morphological type. In actual fact, his prime examples of “flektierende Sprachen” – non-analytic Indo-European, Semitic, “Hamitensprachen” – are. 3. gender = “Anwendung des Genusunterschiedes auf Gegenstände, die mit dem Sexus gar nichts zu tun haben” (p. 63);origin in distinction of person and thing, animate and inanimate, reflected in pronouns, in other agreeing forms, or also in inflection of nouns themselves (p. 64);”Gruppierung” (classification according to “group”, i.e., animacy), alongside “Klasseneinteilung” (pp. 62, 67)4. See also ##1959, 1960 for further correlates of “flektierend” suggested by Meinhof.
1. See similar statements by Moravcsik 1994 (#389), Renault 1987b (#589).2. “Flektierende Sprachen” according to Meinhof have four characteristics:(i) inflection, i.e. declension and conjugation;(ii) “Bildungselemente, die keine selbständige Bedeutung mehr haben” (i.e., genuine affixes, rather than function words also retaining content word uses);(iii) “Veränderlichkeit des Wortstammes”, especially “innerer Vokalwechsel” (see #1676);(iv) “Mannigfaltigkeit der Pluralbildung” (i.e., plural allomorphy) (see #1673).It is possible, though not mandatory, to read him as claiming that there is an implicational chain among them:(iv) … (iii) … (ii) … (i) That is, his “flektierende Sprachen” are not necessarily “flexive” in the sense of having cumulation, otherwise considered a key property of this morphological type. In actual fact, his prime examples of “flektierende Sprachen” – non-analytic Indo-European, Semitic, “Hamitensprachen” – are. 3. gender = “Anwendung des Genusunterschiedes auf Gegenstände, die mit dem Sexus gar nichts zu tun haben” (p. 63);origin in distinction of person and thing, animate and inanimate, reflected in pronouns, in other agreeing forms, or also in inflection of nouns themselves (p. 64);”Gruppierung” (classification according to “group”, i.e., animacy), alongside “Klasseneinteilung” (pp. 62, 67)4. See also ##1959, 1960 for further correlates of “flektierend” suggested by Meinhof.