The Origin of the Category of Gender in Indo-European Languages

An attempt is made to shed light on the semantic principles governing gender assignment in Indo-European languages applying the method of internal reconstruction & using evidence from Nostratic. The comparative-historical analysis addresses the following questions pertaining to the diachrony of content & expression of the Indo-European gender category: (1) what were the objective factors motivating the formation of a tripartite (masculine-feminine-neuter) classification of nouns? (2) which qualities led to the perception of some referents as animate & others as inanimate? (3) what linguistic means were utilized to mark these distinctions? (4) how did the pattern of formally differentiating masculine & feminine animate nouns develop & was it semantically motivated? It is argued that the presence of two classes of referents - those that could function as both objects & subject of active state of affairs & those that could not be subjects of active state of affairs - was at the basis of nominal classification in Proto-Indo-European. The perception of a referent as animate was motivated by its ability to function as a subject of active state of affairs; the inability of a referent to function as a subject of active state of affairs led to its perception as inanimate. The assignment of animacy & inanimacy was a means of explaining the causes of actions & processes; active state of affairs were perceived as the consequence of animate referents. The formal means to mark this distinctions & their evolution into the masculine-feminine-neuter gender schema are investigated across Proto-Nostratic & Proto-Indo-European periods. 3 Tables, 15 References. Z. Dubiel