http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/ Lingua Franca Nova (LFN) Thu, 28 Mar 2013 06:08:10 GMT David Jennings http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3597 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3597 Mandarin has lots (LOTS) of love songs, and one third person pronoun: ta Khmer pronouns show relative age and degree of intimacy, but not gender(usually) Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:30:02 GMT George Boeree http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3596 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3596 Si algun es intereseda, on pote vide discutes pasada de esta cosa a http://lfn.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Pronomes_sesal Ance, ave un poesia par Guido cual usa Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:09:59 GMT Paul Bartlett http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3595 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3595 ... Once again, ask speakers of languages such as Finnish which do not have sex-specific third person pronouns how they get along, just as we do in the plural Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:27:41 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3594 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3594 Personally, I like hi, xi and el. Mark Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:43:15 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3593 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3593 Yes, I suppose that as listeners it gives us more room for interpretation. But why remove those colors from the palette of the artist, the songwriter? Does a Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:55:32 GMT George Boeree http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3592 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3592 Actually, a neutral pronoun would make the songs meaningful to either sex: "And I love mmm", "Mmm loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!" :o) ... George Boeree Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:04:09 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3591 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3591 David, Maybe it doesn't matter that much. But I was just thinking of all the songs in English which use she, her, him and he. And I Love Her by the Beatles, Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:41:17 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3590 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3590 I lived in Buffalo for a year in the mid-'70s and I remember hearing people occasionally say "youse." But, like "y'all" in the South, it seems to be thought of Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:30:34 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3589 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3589 George, OK, I understand, and you make good points. It never occurred to me that the words "he" and "she" were sexist in any way, any more than "man" or Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:19:07 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3588 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3588 Paul, But English does have a plural of "you." Y'all, youse, you-uns. :) Mark Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:20:27 GMT George Boeree http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3587 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3587 Here's a lengthy answer: We decided from the beginning that, in today's world, the pronoun distinction between males and females encouraged a sexist view and Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:11:54 GMT Jens Wilkinson http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3586 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3586 You could ask the same question in English. There were two brothers, Bill and Will, playing a game. He beat him. How do you know which brother won? Jens Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:53:13 GMT Paul Bartlett http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3585 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3585 ... You might ask in Finland. To the best of my information, the Finns are a sophisticated, cultured, educated people, but the Finnish language does not have Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:48:47 GMT David Jennings http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3584 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3584 does it matter? quite a few natural languages dont distinguish gender and get by just fine. Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:55:53 GMT Mark Hovila http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3583 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LinguaFrancaNova/message/3583 And there are two other possibilities: "He gives the cat to him" and "She gives the cat to her." Mark