Saturday, August 30, 2025

How Many Genders? Aelius Donatus, Parts of Speech

 

Name: Aelius Donatus

Date: 4th century CE  

Region:   [Unknown]

Citation:   Parts of Speech

How many genders are there? Four.

Which?

·         Masculine, like magister [“teacher,”];

·         Feminine, like musa [‘Muse,’];

·         Neuter, like scamnum [“bench”]; and

·         Common, like sacerdos [“priest”]. There is another beyond the three genders, which is called All-Inclusive [omne], like how the word ‘felix’ [“blessed, lucky”] can describe masculine, feminine or neuter words. It is unisex, for any gender, like passer [“sparrow”] or aquila [“eagle”].

genera nominum quot sunt? quattuor.

quae? masculinum, ut hic magister, femininum, ut haec Musa, neutrum, ut hoc scamnum, commune, ut hic et haec sacerdos. est praeterea trium generum, quod omne dicitur, ut hic et haec et hoc felix; est epicoenon, id est promiscuum, ut passer aquila.