Why Do Languages Have Gendered Words?

Jennifer Dorman, a language expert, discusses the evolution and role of gendered grammar in languages. She explains that grammatical gender likely developed to reduce ambiguity and enhance communication. While English once had grammatical gender, it transitioned to a natural gender language around the 11th century. Today, 44% of languages still use grammatical gender, which helps specify meaning in conversations. Despite English's lack of a true grammatical gender system, it retains some gendered terms. Gendered grammar will continue to influence languages globally.

What is the role of grammatical gender in communication according to Jennifer Dorman?

What is Proto Indo European and its significance in the context of grammatical gender?

How does grammatical gender help in disambiguating nouns in conversation?

What changes occurred in the English language regarding grammatical gender around the 11th century?

Can you provide examples of gendered pairs in natural gender languages that are lacking in English?