GENDER

Talbot (2010:3) told that gender is an important division in all societies. It is of enormous significance to human beings. Being born male or female has far-reaching consequences for an individual. This includes the language we use, and the language used about us.

According to Eckert & McConnell-Ginet (2013:1) gender is embedded so thoroughly in our institutions, our actions, our beliefs, and our desires, that it appears to us to completely natural. Gender is not something we are born with, and not something we have, but something we do (West & Zimmerman 1987) - something we perform (butler 1990)

Gender is a sex that consists of male and female. In English language there is gender language in a human and animal but in a thing that isn’t gender, it’s different with other language that is still gender language in a thing but this neuter noun explain that there is no gender in both sex .

The concept of gender has no grammatical function in modern English. (Eckersley & Eckersley (1973:41)) That is the phenomenon that the appreciation of the grouping of English nouns into their gender categories will broaden one’s horizon. According to Wren & Martin (1990:7-8) introduce four technical terms to classify these nouns namely, masculine, feminine, common, and neuter gender. These categories will form the basis to classify weather a certain noun may be replaced by the pronouns ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’. In English ‘it’ refers to animal but they sometimes called as ‘he’ or ‘she’. That statement same with the pattern of Corbet (1991:180) that the consistent agreement pattern in English such as a picture below.

                                                                                                                      

                                          who                 he        (masculine)

                                          who                 she       (feminine)

                                          which              it          (neuter)

                                                                                                                             

The researcher classify the gender noun used in “The Jakarta Post” that found in an edition. And gender noun can take several forms, they are:

1.      Masculine noun is all nouns that denotes to male.

Example: A boy is playing in the play-ground.

2.      Feminine noun is all nouns that denotes to female.

Example: A girl is playing in the play-ground.

3.      Common gender noun is all nouns that denotes to both gender, it means either males or females.

Example: A child is playing in the play-ground.

4.      Neuter noun is all nouns that doesn’t denote to both of gender, it means neither males nor females.

Example: Books are our best friends.

SOURCE 

Corbet, Griville G. 1991. Gender.Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. New York Cambridge                          University Press.

Eckert, Penelope & McConnel-Ginet, Sally. (2013). Language and Gender.Cambridge: Cambridge                 University Press.

Eckersley, C.E & Eckersley, J.M. 1973. A Comprehensive English Grammar for Foreign Students.                London: Longman Group Limited.

Talbot, Marry. 2010. Language and Gender Second Edition. Malden, MA: Polity   Press.

Wren, P.C & Martin, H. 1990. High School English Grammar and Composition.Revised Edition.                  New Delhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd.