gender and Grammar

[Dominik Wujastyk]

There's a delightful and (deliberately?) very funny discussion of
grammatical gender in Patanjali's Mahabhasya.  It's a very long time since
I read it, but I recall him arguing that something is feminine in
grammatical gender as long as it has breasts and long hair.  But why are
these features not seen in a bed (kha.tvaa, f.).  Answer: they are
present, but are invisible.  :-)

I've always slept more contentedly since reading that argument.

All the best,
Dominik

--
Dr Dominik Wujastyk,                FAX:        +44 171 611 8545
Wellcome Institute for              URL:        http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/
  the History of Medicine,          Email:      d.wujastyk at ucl.ac.uk
Wellcome Trust, 183 Euston Road,    Trust URL:  http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
London NW1 2BE, England.

First Rule of History:
  History doesn't repeat itself -- historians merely repeat each other.