Groups > comp.lang.java.programmer > #21189

Re: java software naming question

From	Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.java.programmer
Subject	Re: java software naming question
Date	2013-01-07 21:58 -0600
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<kcg5gu$r7a$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<396e3ff0-2a44-4d8b-917c-3b9205a567a6@googlegroups.com> <akvme8hvekujkgdt0ndjq0g827qa817fk5@4ax.com> <b094ad0b-ff6d-446c-aeee-766ec9560f1d@googlegroups.com>

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On 1/7/2013 8:33 PM, Lew wrote:
> On Monday, January 7, 2013 6:04:09 PM UTC-8, Roedy Green wrote:
>> English is obsessed with plurality/number.  You can't say anything
>> without being specific. It is similarly obsessed with gender.
>
> Unlike French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and a host of other languages,
> English does not have much in the way of feminine vs. masculine distinctions.
>
> So how is that "obsessed with gender"?

I expect he's actually referring to the fact that English possessives 
agree in gender with the possessor instead of the possessed, as would 
happen in, say, French. This can make third-person gender-neutral 
constructs hard to complete: think about how you should complete the 
following sentence: The student did not turn in ____ homework.

In contrast to Romance languages and many others, English in general 
distinguishes much less between male and female versions of, say, an 
occupation: in French, you'd have to pick between étudiant and 
étudiante. Also note that we have a single third-person plural variant 
("they", which can also be used as a gender-neutral singular pronoun, 
although some would frown at such a usage [1]), in contrast between 
French where you are forced to pick between "ils" and "elles."

As for obsessed about number, note that we do not distinguish between 
singular and plural second-person and have not for 400-500 years. "They" 
does a remarkably good job about conveying uncertainty about number as 
well as gender too, and it wouldn't surprise me if it became more 
prevalent in singular third-person in 400 years.

Note, however, that this kind of inflectional agreement in English is 
largely limited to the various inflections of pronouns; in many Romance 
languages, inflection is required on adjectives and the verbs themselves.

[1] Singular they has even been used by Shakespeare, so I would 
personally classify attempts to outlaw it on the same level as those who 
hate sentences ending in prepositions: it may be bad style, but 
incorrect English it is not.

-- 
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not 
tried it. -- Donald E. Knuth

Thread

java software naming question mcheung63@gmail.com - 2013-01-07 01:11 -0800
  Re: java software naming question "Aryeh M. Friedman" <Aryeh.Friedman@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 01:21 -0800
  Re: java software naming question "Aryeh M. Friedman" <Aryeh.Friedman@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 01:26 -0800
  Re: java software naming question Muco <muco@nomail.com> - 2013-01-07 20:38 +1100
    Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 11:12 -0800
  Re: java software naming question Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2013-01-07 07:03 -0800
    Re: java software naming question "Aryeh M. Friedman" <Aryeh.Friedman@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 07:08 -0800
    Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-07 08:34 -0800
      Re: java software naming question Magnus Warker <magnus@mailinator.com> - 2013-01-07 18:26 +0100
        Re: java software naming question markspace <markspace@nospam.nospam> - 2013-01-07 10:54 -0800
          Re: java software naming question "Chris Uppal" <chris.uppal@metagnostic.REMOVE-THIS.org> - 2013-01-07 19:41 +0000
            Re: java software naming question Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2013-01-07 17:13 -0500
              Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-07 18:44 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-07 19:37 -0800
        Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-07 19:33 -0800
          Re: java software naming question Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2013-01-08 09:39 +0000
            Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-08 20:26 -0500
              Re: java software naming question Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:32 +0000
                Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-09 18:41 -0500
                Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-09 16:23 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2013-01-10 09:44 +0000
                Re: java software naming question lipska the kat <"nospam at neversurrender dot co dot uk"> - 2013-01-10 10:16 +0000
                Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-12 17:07 -0500
                Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-12 17:03 -0500
  Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 11:11 -0800
    Re: java software naming question lipska the kat <lipskathekat@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-01-07 19:48 +0000
    Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-07 18:56 -0500
      Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 16:05 -0800
  Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-07 18:55 -0500
  Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-07 18:04 -0800
    Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 18:33 -0800
      Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-07 19:57 -0800
        Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-07 20:11 -0800
        Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-07 23:05 -0600
          Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:40 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 11:18 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2013-01-09 11:59 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 23:20 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Stuart <DerTopper@web.de> - 2013-01-10 09:32 +0100
              Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-10 01:09 -0600
            Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-09 23:59 -0600
              Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 23:36 -0800
        Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-07 21:46 -0800
      Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-07 21:58 -0600
        Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-08 00:19 -0800
        Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-08 00:22 -0800
          Re: java software naming question "Aryeh M. Friedman" <Aryeh.Friedman@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 00:30 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:41 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 10:51 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-09 23:27 -0600
          Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 07:07 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-08 09:31 -0600
              Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 07:36 -0800
          Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-08 08:47 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Stuart <DerTopper@web.de> - 2013-01-08 21:56 +0100
              Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 13:04 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2013-01-08 14:14 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 15:19 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-08 16:22 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Mark <i@dontgetlotsofspamanymore.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:34 +0000
              Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:50 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-09 10:10 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 10:49 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2013-01-08 20:37 -0500
        Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-08 00:26 -0800
          Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 07:12 -0800
            Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-08 09:27 -0600
              Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 07:32 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:55 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-09 12:53 -0800
                Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 23:37 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2013-01-08 08:50 -0800
          Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-08 09:26 -0600
            Re: java software naming question Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-09 09:59 -0800
              Re: java software naming question Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid> - 2013-01-09 23:31 -0600
    Re: java software naming question "Aryeh M. Friedman" <Aryeh.Friedman@gmail.com> - 2013-01-08 00:24 -0800
  Re: java software naming question johnjagu25@gmail.com - 2013-01-08 08:39 -0800

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