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The term man (from Proto-Germanic *mann-"person") and words derived from it can designate any or even all of the human race regardless of their sex or age. In traditional usage, man (without an article) itself refers to the species or to humanity (mankind) as a whole. The Germanic word developed into Old English mann. In Old English, the word ...
Gender is no longer an inflectional category in Modern English. [9] Traces of the Old English gender system are found in the system of pronouns. Nonetheless, Modern English assumes a "natural" interpretation of gender affiliation, [10] which is based on the sex, or perceived sexual characteristics, of the pronoun's referent.
The grammar of Old English differs greatly from Modern English, predominantly being much more inflected.As a Germanic language, Old English has a morphological system similar to that of the Proto-Germanic reconstruction, retaining many of the inflections thought to have been common in Proto-Indo-European and also including constructions characteristic of the Germanic daughter languages such as ...
The English term "man" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *man-(see Sanskrit/Avestan manu-, Slavic mǫž "man, male"). [4] More directly, the word derives from Old English mann. The Old English form primarily meant "person" or "human being" and referred to men, women, and children alike.
Old English (Englisċ or Ænglisc ... a neuter noun referring to a female person. In Old English's verbal compound constructions are the beginnings of the compound ...
Distinct words and names for men and women are also common in languages which do not have a grammatical gender system for nouns in general. English, for example, has feminine suffixes such as -ess (as in waitress), and also distinguishes male and female personal names, as in the above examples.
The suffix-man had the meanings "person" and "adult male" in Old English (see man), but, even when used as a gender-neutral term to include women, it was understood to still mainly refer to males. [1] Around the 20th century, the gender-neutral use of man and -man declined. [1]
Old English pronouns; Nominative IPA Accusative Dative Genitive 1st Singular iċ: mec / mē: mē: mīn Dual wit: uncit: unc: uncer Plural wē: ūsic: ūs: ūser / ūre