[ExI] Language Changing Before Our Very Eyes

[Sergio M.L. Tarrero]

In Spanish we use "su" and "sus" (for plurals) for both possessive  
pronouns "his -" and "her -".

However, we do have "él" for both "he" and "him", and "ella" for both  
"she" and "her", generally. But we avoid this gender problem in  
sentences in which you are using "him" or "her" as an indirect object  
(like in the sentence: "(yo) le compré un regalo", which works for  
both "I bought him a present" and "I bought her a present").  If it´s  
a direct object, you must specify gender (as in "yo la llamé", "I  
called her").

When you say something is "his", or "hers", we also have "suyo" and  
"suya", or you can also use "de él" or "de ella" here.

Yes, I wish it became standardized in English to use Egan´s neutrals:  
"ve", "ver", etc.  I also attempt to avoid the problem in sentence  
construction, but I use the feminine when I have to, and don´t give  
it any thought (if I remember to - I learnt English using only the  
masculine).

--
Sergio M.L. Tarrero


El 22/05/2007, a las 12:47, Stathis Papaioannou escribió:

> Does anyone know if there are any languages which do have such  
> pronouns to refer to a person without specifying gender?

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