Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 14:13:08 EDT

From: Wayne Glowka wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.GAC.PEACHNET.EDU

Subject: Re: you



From: Dennis Baron baron[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ux1.cso.uiuc.edu



Subject: you



Thought y'all'd be interested in this extension of an old discussion:

s. The words "he", "she", and "it"

show no sign at all of following "thou" into oblivion.



--

Peter Moylan peter[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ee.newcastle.edu.au





Queries:



1) My mother taught me to use "it" for babies regardless of sex; she

herself used "it" for a baby until about the time it started to walk and

talk--at which time she referred to it as "he" or "she." I offended people

here in Middle Georgia--well, women (because men never asked about my baby

except to express sympathy for the chaos at home)--when I referred to my

infant daughter as an "it." Anybody else's momma teach them/him/her the

same use of "it/him/her"? Was this some bizarre pronoun calque from

Bohemian?



2) My mother-in-law (r-less Middle Georgia resident all of her life)

systematically refers to my cats (which/whom she may still regard as

kittens despite their middle age) with the wrong natural gender (but never

her own cats--which/whom she does not regard as kittens--well, one is well

over 20 pounds). I'm starting to use this crazy pronoun system myself, and

I'm wondering if this trans-sexual usage is idiosyncratic (like my own

constant confusion of right and left) or if it is just a part of Southern

American that I need to know more about. My r-full wife does not confuse

the genders of pets (or babies); she also consciously avoids sounding "old

fashioned Southern."





Wayne Glowka

Professor of English

Director of Research and Graduate Student Services

Georgia College

Milledgeville, GA 31061

912-453-4222

wglowka[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]mail.gac.peachnet.edu