Gender and Number - Domain( திணை )

Domain( திணை )

In Tamil language so called domain is classified into two categories.

1) Human Domain ( உயர் திணைகள் )

Human beings:

Human proper Nouns (Kumar -குமார் ) and Human Personal Nouns(Doctors-.மருத்துவர்கள் )

2) Non Human Domain ( அஃறினை)

Plants , animals and other living things

Gender ( பால்)

Tamil language has only the natural gender ( only for human beings ) unlike other languages like Hindi which has grammatical genders.In human , Tamil language has Masculine and Feminine genders.All non-human nouns are referred in neutral gender except for animals like காளை ( bull ) and பசு ( cow ).

Proper Noun

Masculine	Feminine
ரவி ( ravi )	சுதா ( Sudha )
குமார் ( Kumar )	வித்யா ( Vidhya )
விஜை ( Vijay )	சீதா ( Seetha )

Personal Noun

Masculine – English Meanings	Feminine – English Meanings
அப்பா ( appa ) – Father	அம்மா ( amma ) – Mother
சிறுவன் ( siruvan ) – Boy	சிறுமி ( sirumi ) – Girl
மாணவன் ( manavan ) – Boy Student	மாணவி ( maanavi ) – Girl Student
நடிகன் ( nadigan ) – Actor	நடிகை ( nadigai ) – Actress

Singular and Plural ( numbers)

Both the domains have singular and plural.The above personal noun examples can be considered for singular reference. ‘ கள் ‘ is added at the end of singular to make it plurals. The following are the examples for plurals.

 

Masculine – English Meanings	Feminine – English Meanings
நடிகர்கள் ( nadikarkal ) – Actors	நடிகைகள் ( nadikaikal ) – Actresses
மாணவர்கள் ( maanavarkal ) – Students	மாணவிகள் ( maanavikal ) – Girl Students
சிறுவர்கள் ( siruvarkal ) – Boys	சிறுமிகள் ( sirumikal ) – Girls
ஆண்கள் ( aankal ) – Gents	பெண்கள் ( penkal ) – Ladies
சகோதரர்கள் ( sakotharkal ) – Brothers	சகோதரிகள் ( sakothirikal ) – Sisters

 

Rules Of Pluralization:

Most nouns take an ‘s’ after the word to form a plural. [bag-bags]
Nouns ending with ch, sh, s, z, and x take ‘es’. [watch-watches]
Nouns ending with ‘f’ and ‘fe’ take ‘ves’. [life-lives]
Nouns ending with a consonant+‘y’ replace ‘y’ with ‘i’+es. [baby-babies]
Nouns ending with a vowel+‘y’ take an ‘s’. [toy-toys]
Nouns ending with vowels take ‘es’. [mango-mangoes]

What Is Gender in Grammar? (with Examples)

Gender is a category of noun. A noun can have a masculine gender, a feminine gender, or a neuter gender.

Easy Examples of Gender

• man (masculine gender)
• woman (feminine gender)
• house (neuter gender)
• chicken (neuter gender – if we don't know if it’s a rooster or a hen)

If the word does not denote something obviously masculine or feminine, then it is a neuter word.

More Examples of Gender

In English, the gender of a noun affects the pronouns we use with it (e.g., he, she, it) and the possessive determiners (e.g., his, her, its). For example:

• The man ripped his new coat, which he only bought yesterday.
• The woman lost her blue shoes, which she had never worn.
• The dog chewed its leather collar, which it hated.

While there are lots of gender-specific nouns in English (e.g., actor, actress, prince, princess), a normal noun (e.g., parent, cousin, teenager, teacher) doesn't reflect its gender until it is substituted for a pronoun or used with a possessive determiner.

More Examples of Gender

Here are some more examples of nouns and their genders:

Noun	Gender	Example
Cup	Neuter	Where's my cup? I have lost it.
Boy	Masculine	Has that boy finished his chores?
Princess	Feminine	The princess has eaten hers.

Genders Can Change in English

In English, nouns are categorized as masculine, feminine, or neuter depending on their meaning. Most nouns are neuter, unless they obviously refer to something male or female. (Only the third person pronouns (i.e., he, his, she, her, hers, it, and its) reflect gender.)

In many other languages (e.g., Russian, Serbo-Croat, and German), the spelling of a noun (as opposed to its meaning) often determines its gender.

For example, if a noun ends -a (in Russian or Serbo-Croat) or ends –heit (in German), then it will be feminine. This is not how it works in English, where gender is directly linked to whether something is male or female. In English, gender can even change. Look at these examples:

Noun	Gender	Example
Dog	Neuter	Where's its bone?
Dog	Masculine	Where's his bone?
Dog	Feminine	Where's her bone?

Feminine Gender for Ships and Machines

Even though they are not literally female, ships and other machines are sometimes affectionately given a feminine gender.

Noun	Gender	Example
boat	Neuter	I have worked on this boat all my life. It is a beauty.
boat	Feminine	I have worked on this boat all my life. She is a beauty.

Why Should I Care about Gender?

There are three notable issues linked to gender.

(Issue 1) Finding an alternative to his/her.

Look at these sentences:

• Each person must understand where he fits in the team.
• Anyone who forgets his passport will be sent home.

But what if they're not all male? Using he or his for unknown people was the accepted practice, but no longer. It is, of course, sexist and inaccurate.

To get around this, you could write:

• Each person must understand where he/she fits in the team.
• Anyone who forgets his or her passport will be sent home.

But, as they're clumsy solutions, lots of people naturally opt for this:

• Each person must understand where they fit in the team.
• Anyone who forgets their passport will be sent home.

This has been going on for over six centuries, and so it sounds fine. However, we now have person and anyone (both of which are singular) paired up with they and their (both of which are plural). Surely, they're grammar mistakes? Well, nowadays, they're not. Using a "singular they" (as it's called) is now a formally accepted practice. (NB: "Singular they" was nominated as the American Dialect Society's word of the year in 2015.)

It's not just they and their that can be singular. Them and theirs can be too.

This issue commonly crops up with sentences including the pronouns anyone, everyone, and everyone. If you really can't bear pairing them with a plural pronoun, then reword your sentence.

• Anyone who forgets their passport will be sent home.
• If you forget your passport, you will be sent home.
(This reworded version avoids pairing the singular anyone with the plural their.

(Issue 2) Choosing the right version of blonde/blond.

The word blond/blonde changes depending on its gender.

Blond is a noun meaning a fair-haired male.

• The blond has nice shoes.
(We now know it's a boy.)

Blond is also an adjective used to describe anybody (regardless of their gender) with fair hair.

• The blond girl and the blond boy make a nice blond couple.
(When it's an adjective, blond can be used for all genders.)

Blonde is a noun meaning a fair-haired female.

• The blonde has nice shoes.
(We now know it's a girl.)

Blonde is also an adjective used to describe a female (or females) with fair hair.

• The blonde girl and the blond boy make a nice blond couple.
(As an adjective, blonde or blond can be used to describe females.)

(Issue 3) Using gender-neutral pronouns for people who do not identify themselves as either male or female.

Be aware that some people identify themselves as both male and female while others as neither male nor female. These people might ask you to use they (and of course their, them, theirs, themself) or just their name instead of a pronoun (e.g., Sarah, Sarah's, Sarah's self) when talking about them.

You might also have noticed other gender-neutral pronouns appearing. Ey, per, sie, ve, and zie are all recently proposed alternatives to he or she, but at present none is showing any signs of entering into common usage. However, use of they for a gender-neutral singular pronoun (or "non-binary pronoun" as it's often called in this context) is deemed by a growing number of linguistics specialists to have a chance, particularly as it's used in a similar way already (see "Issue 1" above).

PRONOUN - பிரதி பெயர்ச்சொல் ( Learn English through Tamil)

 Noun (பெயர்சொல்லுக்கு பதிலாக உபயோகிக்கும் வார்த்தை Pronoun எனப்படும் 

I - நான்      

We -  நாங்கள் 

You - நீ 

His - அவனுடைய  

She -  அவள் 

It - இது 

Me - என்னிடம் 

Us - எங்களிடம் 

Your - உன்னுடைய 

He - அவன் 

Her - அவளிடம் 

They  - அவர்கள் 

Them - அவர்களிடம் 

My - என்னுடைய 

Our - நமது 

Him - அவனிடம் 

Hers - அவளுடைய 

Their - அவர்களுடைய 

It ( உயிரல்லாத பொருட்களுக்கும் , மிருகங்கள் மற்றும் சிறு குழந்தைகளுக்கும் பதிலாக பயன்படுத்துவர்.

I give her my pencil

நான் எனது எழுதுகோலை அவளுக்கு கொடுத்தேன் 

Mani mehalai helps her father

மணி மேஹளை அவளுடைய தந்தைக்கு உதவுகிறாள் 

Types of Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in a sentence. Using pronouns keeps you from repeating the same nouns over and over again. There are many different types of pronouns, each serving a different purpose. Keep reading for the different types of pronouns that you're likely to encounter in your reading and conversations.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns function as a substitute for a person's name. Subject pronouns replace the name of the subject of a sentence, while object pronouns replace the name of the object. The main personal pronouns are:

Subject Pronouns	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	I don't want to leave. You are a talented artist. They went to the store.
Object Pronouns	me, you, her, him, it, us, them	Go talk to her. Has anyone met him? Come sit with us.

The personal pronouns you use depend on many things, including the context of a sentence and a person's preferred pronouns. Many style guides now have guidance on using they/them as singular pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership or possession of a noun. They replace a noun that typically has an apostrophe and "s" after it (such as "Bethany's"). There are two types of possessive pronouns: possessive determiners that can function as pronouns, and independent possessive pronouns, which refer to a previously stated noun.

Possessive Determiners	my, your, our, her, his, its, their	Is that my book? Your dog is so cute. Her job is exciting.
Independent Possessive Pronouns	mine, yours, ours, hers, his, its, theirs	That prize is mine. Ours is down the street. The decision is theirs.

Notice that the possessive determiners always come before a noun, while the independent possessive pronouns can stand alone. The two possessive pronouns that are the same in both cases are his and its — the words are spelled the same no matter how you use them as a pronoun (with no apostrophe in its).

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns don't point to particular nouns. We use them when an object doesn't need to be specifically identified. There are singular indefinite pronouns that function as singular nouns, and plural indefinite objects that function as plural nouns. There are also some indefinite pronouns that function both ways.

Singular Indefinite Pronouns	anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, little, much, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, something	Everybody loves it here. Nothing is too hard. One must consider the possibilities.
Plural Indefinite Pronouns	both, few, many, several	Both sound good to me. Few have mentioned it. Many offered to help.
Singular and Plural Indefinite Pronouns	all, any, more, most, none, some, such	All are welcome. More can fit at the table. Can you bring some?

Most indefinite pronouns work whether the noun comes before the pronoun or not. However, clarifying the noun in the previous sentence may help with any misunderstanding.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns connect a clause or phrase to a noun or pronoun. We often see them when we need to add more information. They also include indefinite relative pronouns, which are relative pronouns with "ever" at the end.

Relative Pronouns	who, whom, which, whose, that	Find the man who stole the money. The dog, which barked all night, is asleep. I sold the watch that my sister gave me.
Indefinite Relative Pronouns	whoever, whomever, whichever, whatever	Thank whoever sent a gift. Whichever you choose will be great. We should take whatever train comes next.

You can use relative pronouns to introduce adjective clauses. They connect dependent clauses to independent clauses to create a more thorough sentence.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns have the same form as relative pronouns, but they ask a question. Some people confuse interrogative pronouns with interrogative determiners, which come before a noun. However, like all pronouns, interrogative pronouns must replace a noun.

Interrogative Pronouns	who, whom, which, what, whose	Who is absent? Which is cheaper? Whose is this?
Other Interrogative Pronouns	whoever, whomever, whichever, whatever	Whomever should I call? Whichever did you want? Whatever do you mean?

It may seem like there are words missing from this list, such as where and why. However, they are not interrogative pronouns — they are adverbs that describe more about verbs.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns replace the object of a sentence when it refers to the same person or item in the subject. They usually follow the verb in the sentence, but can also follow a preposition. These pronouns end in -self (singular reflexive pronouns) or -selves (plural reflexive pronouns).

Singular Reflexive Pronouns	myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, themself, theirself	You should buy yourself a smoothie. Nadine taught herself Spanish. The spider spun a web for itself.
Plural Reflexive Pronouns	yourselves, ourselves, themselves	Enjoy yourselves at the party. We gave ourselves plenty of extra time. The kids made themselves a fort.

If you replace these pronouns with the nouns in the sentence, they are still correct, but they're more awkward. "Nadine taught Nadine Spanish" is more confusing to read than "Nadine taught herself Spanish."

Intensive Pronouns

Intensive pronouns, also known as emphatic pronouns, emphasize or intensify nouns and pronouns. They take the same form as reflexive pronouns, but unlike reflexive pronouns, they're not essential to the sentence. You usually find them right after the noun they're intensifying.

Singular Intensive Pronouns	myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, themself, theirself	I myself like to travel. He himself is his worst critic. She herself bought the tickets.
Plural Intensive Pronouns	yourselves, ourselves, themselves	You told me you were there yourselves. We finished the project ourselves. They themselves witnessed the crime.

If you remove intensive pronouns from the sentence, it still makes sense. However, intensive pronouns help to emphasize the important part of the sentence, so they are still helpful to include.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns take the place of a noun that's already been mentioned. Demonstrative pronouns can be singular or plural. There are five of them, and they can also function as demonstrative adjectives.

Singular Demonstrative Pronouns	this, that, such, none, neither	This is my favorite song. That doesn't matter. Neither fits me.
Plural Demonstrative Pronouns	these, those	These are delicious. Those are too expensive.

Demonstrative pronouns can also function as demonstrative adjectives. For example, in the sentence "Neither fits me," neither is functioning as a pronoun. If you add a noun into the sentence, such as "Neither dress fits me," neither now functions as an adjective that describes the dress

Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns show an action that two or more nouns are performing together. There are only two reciprocal pronouns, but they play a big role in English. They also aren't used in the same way.

Reciprocal Pronoun for Two Nouns	each other	My parents love each other. We gave each other gifts.
Reciprocal Pronoun for Three or More Nouns	one another	Respect one another in this classroom. The cats fought one another for the food.

Punctuating reciprocal pronouns can be tricky for some people. When you're using each other or one another as a possessive pronoun (as in "We opened each other's presents"), treat it as a singular noun and add an apostrophe and "s," not an "s" and apostrophe as you would with a plural possessive noun.