Date:  Thu, 20 Oct 1994 14:50:29 EDT

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

Subject: Animal Gender, Again



The comments I received earlier about the pronouns used here and there for

animals were interesting, but inconclusive. The problem of mixed up gender

for animals with specified sex showed up in my reading last night in

Vinaver's 1971 edition of Malory's _Works_ (original text before 1471, the

year of Malory's death). In this passage, read Malory's normal _brachet_

for _bracket_, 'a female dog':



    And anone thys lityll bracket felte a savoure of sir Trystram. He

lepte uppon hym and lycked hys learys and hys earys, and than he whyned and

quested, and she smelled at hys feete and at hys hondis and on al the

partyes of hys body that she myght com to. (p. 309)



As far as I can tell, Tristram is not leaping and licking on the dog and

Damsel Brangwayn and La Beall Isode are not sniffing at Tristram's feet,

hands, and other accessible body parts. Apparently, the dog is referred to

with both _he_ (surely not a remnant of _heo_!) and _she_.



At any rate, this confusion is not limited to our times.







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