SECTION II.
Of Genders.
We not only observe a plurality of substances, or of things of the same sort, whence arises the distinction of number; but we distinguish also another character of some substances, which we call sex. Every substance is either male or female, or neither the one nor the other. In English, all male animals are considered as masculine; all female animals as feminine; and all things inanimate, or destitute of sex, are termed neuter, as belonging neither to the male nor the female sex. In this distribution we follow the order of nature; and our language is, in this respect, both simple and animated.
The difference of sex is, in some cases, expressed by different words, as,
| Masc. | Fem. |
| Boy | Girl |
| Buck | Doe |
| Bull | Cow |
| Bullock | Heifer |
| Boar | Sow |
| Drake | Duck |
| Friar | Nun |
| Gaffer | Gammer |
| Gander | Goose |
| Gelding } | Mare |
| Horse } | |
| Milter | Spawner |
| Nephew | Niece |
| Ram | Ewe |
| Sloven | Slut |
| Stag | Hind |
| Widower | Widow |
| Wizard | Witch |
Sometimes the female is distinguished by the termination ess or ix.
There are a few whose feminine ends in ix, viz.
| Masc. | Fem. |
| Administrator | Administratrix |
| Executor | Executrix |
| Testator | Testatrix |
| Director | Directrix |
Where there is but one word to express both sexes, we add another word to distinguish the sex; as, he-goat, she-goat; man-servant, maid-servant; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow.
It has been already observed, that all things destitute of sex are in English considered as of the neuter gender; and, when we speak with logical accuracy, we follow this rule. Sometimes, however, by a figure in rhetoric, called personification, we assign sex to things inanimate. Thus, instead of “virtue is its own reward,” we sometimes say, “virtue is her own reward;” instead of “it (the sun) rises,” we say, “he rises;” instead of “it (death) advances with hasty steps,” we say, “he advances.”