Etymological Gender

Question

I know two words so far, in Spanish, that have an odd gender because their Latin root word had the gender.

Dia m from Dies, diei

Mano f from Manus, man?s

Does anyone know of any other words like this?

And please, no words that have weird gender because of pronunciation (El agua, for example)

Answer 1

You are misinformed. "Dies" in Latin was used both as masculine and feminine. "Manus" was feminine in Latin, and it remains feminine in Spanish, so I don't see the problem (even though this word is rather exceptional).

Answer 2

El tequila

It is a name place, but it is "un alcohol", so it is masculine.

El/La mar

That's more interesting. "Mare" in Latin was neutral.

El/La arma

"Arma" is always masculine; the article changes like in "el agua".

El tema

Greek roots are a big problem in this whole gender business, because there are lots of words ending in -a from Greek origin that are masculine.

Thanks! Very informative. - Beatrice-Codder, May 22, 2011

Do you recall in "Predator" la mujer saying, "Gimme la arma!" - Lector_Constante, May 23, 2011

El tema "το Θεμα " in Greek, is neutral as are lot of words ending in -a. - faliron, May 23, 2011

Answer 3

Oh speaking of etymology, please, someone explain to me how the informal imperative came to be completely different from the informal negative imperative and the formal imperatives, which are all similar to each other.

I won't go into how illogical English can be in so many aspects, and I'll try to give you a quick answer. First, look at this polite sentence:

Te ruego que vengas = I please ask you to come

Te ruego que no vengas = I please ask you not to come

Remove that "Te ruego", and voilà! Now you have the polite and negative imperative forms.

Huh! Is there a particular field of linguistics that concerns itself with the evolution of idioms, "turns of speech" , and the like? Etymology seems to concentrate on words & their origins and comparisons of usage/development - Lector_Constante, May 23, 2011

It is not etymology, but historical grammar (or syntax). - lazarus1907, May 23, 2011

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean :( but thanks for trying to explain it to me! maybe i'll get it eventually - rabbitwho, May 24, 2011

Answer 4

Oh speaking of etymology, please, someone explain to me how the informal imperative came to be completely different from the informal negative imperative and the formal imperatives, which are all similar to each other.

It seems so illogical!

Answer 5

I learned that Dies is weird in some idiomatic expressions and to clarify, my question was that does anyone know any more words the kept the same gender throughout the transformation of languages, but the ending of the word is otherwise.

As Mano, ending in -o, which is generically masculine, is feminine, and dia, ending in -a, is masculine

Answer 6

Entymilogically speaking, I don't know the reason behind it, but I have always sort of wondered about:

• El tequila
• El/La mar
• El/La arma
• El tema

Just a few examples.