the curious gender of certain nouns

Question

Is there any available etymology concerning the seeming gender reversal of certain nouns?

For instance, "la corbata," a tie, is a masculine piece of clothing, typically. Yet, it is designated in the feminine. Likewise, "un vestido," a dress, is a feminine article of clothing, yet it is designated in the masculine.

This is purely a curiosity - nothing that will make or break my studies. It is, however, a point of aggravation from time to time. Any sagacity will be greatly appreciated.

Good question, I've often wondered about this same thing :) - Manity, Mar 5, 2013

Thanks! It's one thing when a certain language designates a mountain as masculine and another language has a mountain as feminine, and other such things. But when a thing seems overtly masculine or feminine and the article has it otherwise - confusing. - quinnsire, Mar 6, 2013

Yep. My own favourite example is in German - der Rock (skirt, masculine) and die Hose (pants, feminine). Go figure :) - Manity, Mar 6, 2013

Ha. Makes me wonder if German has a word for "manskirt," and what gender would that be? - quinnsire, Mar 25, 2013

Answer 1

I think it is the word itself rather than what it is in real life that determines its gender, I have found words ending in "a" tend to be fem, and those ending in something else tend to get the masc gender.

for instance

Supermarket - un / el supermercado,

hardware store - una / la Ferretería,

ladder - una / la escalera

coin - una / la moneda

Cat - Un / el Gato

I am still a beginner but I think everything ending in an A gets the fem una / la
and I actually can not think of anything that ends in a non A that is feminine right now.

Would like someone else with more experience to chime in if i'm wrong, I'm learning as well.

Not a bad answer Eddie but, I think the question is how was it decided to end 'corbata' with an 'a' instead of an 'o'. - kirk1, Mar 5, 2013

Exactly. - quinnsire, Mar 6, 2013

Answer 2

Welcome to the forum. Interesting question.

I found this on Wiki....

In a few languages, the gender assignation of nouns is solely determined by their meaning or attributes, like biological sex, humanness, animacy. However, in most languages, this semantic division is only partially valid, and many nouns may belong to a gender category that contrasts with their meaning (e.g. the word "manliness" could be of feminine gender).1 In this case, the gender assignation can also be influenced by the morphology or phonology of the noun, or in some cases, can be completely arbitrary.

Good answer. - kirk1, Mar 5, 2013

It's that "completely arbitrary" part that befuddles me. - quinnsire, Mar 6, 2013

Answer 3

Eddie said:

I actually can not think of anything that ends in a non A that is feminine right now.

There are several....

La mente, La mano, la foto (short for la fotografía), etc.

Also many feminine nouns end in 'ción' and 'dad'. - kirk1, Mar 5, 2013

Thanks. - EddieVentura, Mar 5, 2013