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The objects which participate in events are classified into
animate vs. inanimate, honoured vs. common and, in some languages,
dead vs. alive. The classification of objects into animate vs
inanimate may result in miscomprehension and misinterpretation. In
English access is made to a limited category of animate vs
inanimate in the use of 'who' vs. 'which' and 'what', and in 'he'
and 'she' vs. 'it'. Arabic is undoubtedly more resourceful in this
classificational system of animate vs. inanimate.
Gender classes as masculine, feminine or neuter seldom
offer serious problems to translators. They are too arbitrary to
allow for alternatives. However, some genders in one language are
muddled up with their counterparts in another language. The sun,
for instance, is feminine in Arabic, whereas it is masculine in
English.. On the other hand, the moon which is masculine in Arabic
is feminine in English. S T Coleridge in his poem, 'The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner', talks of the sun as 'He':
"Out of the sea came He; and He shone bright,
And on the right, went down into the sea."
On the other hand, a 'ship' which is neuter, is referred to as 'it'
or 'she'. Gender distinctions in both Arabic and English have to
be closely observed to avoid formal and semantic miscorrespondence.
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