Blair Collection > Elements of Gaelic grammar

Part II.] OF SPEECH. 43
objects came thus to pofTefs one mark of nouns difcrimina-
tive of Sex ; as they happened to be accompanied by an ad-
jective of the mafculine, or by one of the feminine gender.
If any noun was obferved to be ufually coupled with an ad-
jedlive of the mafcuUne gender, it was termed by gram-
marians a mafculine ncun ; if it was found ufually coupled
with an adjective of the feminine gender, it was termed a
feminine noun. Thus a diftinction of nouns into mafculine
and feminine came to be noted, and this alfo was called
gender.
It is obfervable then that gender, in grammar, is taken
in two different acceptations. When applied to an adjec-
tive, it fignifies a certain /in;;, by which bonus is diftinguifli-
ed from bona. When applied to a noun, it llgnities a certain
relation of the word to the attributives conne<Sted with it, by
which atnor is diftinguifhed from aipidc. As Sex is a na-
tural characteriftic pertaining to living objects j fo gender
is a grammatical charafteriftic pertaining to nouns, the
names of objedts whether animate or inanimate. The gen-
der of nouns is not, properly fpeaking, indicated, it is con-
ftituted by that of the attributives conjoined with them.
If there were no diftinction of gender in adjectives, parti-
ciples, &c. there could be none in nouns. When we fay
that amor is a noun of the mafculine gender, and cupido a
noun of the feminine gender, we do not mean to intimate
any diftinftion between the things fignified by thefe nouns ;
we mean nothing more than to ftate a grammatical fact, viz.
that an adjective connedted with anvjr is always of the fame
form as when joined to a noun denoting a male j and
that an adjective connected with cupido is always of the fame
form as when joined to a noun denoting a female (c).
When
(c") I flatter myself that all my readers, who are acquainted
with any of the antient or the modern languages which have a
distinction of gender in their attributives, will readily perceive
that the import of the term Gender, in the grammar of those
languages, is precisely what I have stated above. The same
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