In some compounds distinguishing words are prefixed or affixed.
+Direction+.--_Learn the following forms_:--
Billy-goat, nanny-goat; buck-rabbit, doe-rabbit; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow;
Englishman, Englishwoman; gentleman, gentlewoman; grandfather, grandmother;
he-bear, she-bear; landlord, landlady; man-servant, maid-servant; merman,
mermaid; Mr. Jones, Mrs. or Miss Jones; peacock, peahen.
Words wholly or radically different are used to distinguish the masculine
from the feminine.
(This is a matter pertaining to the dictionary rather than to grammar.)
+Direction+.--_Learn the following forms_:--
Bachelor, maid; buck, doe; drake, duck; earl, countess; friar _or_ monk,
nun; gander, goose; hart, roe; lord, lady; nephew, niece; sir, madam; stag,
hind; steer, heifer; wizard, witch; youth, damsel _or_ maiden.
The pronoun has three gender forms:--Masculine _he_, feminine _she_, and
neuter _it_. [Footnote: _It_, although a neuter form, is used idiomatically
to refer to a male or a female as, _It_ was _John_; _It_ was _Mary_.]
+Direction+.--_Give five examples of each of the three ways of
distinguishing the masculine from the feminine._
* * * * *
LESSON 118.
GENDER FORMS IN CONSTRUCTION.
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