Masculine and Feminine? The Grammatical Category of Gender and Theory of Value

Gender marking errors in child language development are interpreted within the framework of Ferdinand de Saussure's (1916) theory of value. The chapter on linguistic value in Curso de linguistica geral ([Course in General Linguistics] Sao Paulo: Cultrix, 2001) & excerpts from Escritos de linguistica geral ([Writings in General Linguistics] Sao Paulo: Cultrix, 2004) are interpreted to determine how the Swiss linguist conceptualized grammatical category, & the distinction between feminine & masculine gender in particular, in terms of value & the speaker's subjectivity expressed in & through language. Saussure's distinction between value & meaning, on the one hand, & the linguistic unit & grammatical fact, on the other, is examined with references made to proposals by Roman Jakobson (2005), Andre Meillet (1965), & Louis Hjelmslev (1976). The child's language acquisition & cognitive development are conceived of in terms of the formation of subjectivity that relate the speaker's gender & sex & the emergence of intersubjectivity that enables to relates one's gender & sex to similar attributes perceived in the Other. Z. Dubiel