Gender of Animate Nouns (جانداروں کی تذکیر و تانیث)

Source Images: 38.jpg, 39.jpg, 40.jpg, 41.jpg (Book Pages: 38–41)

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1. The Urdu Gender System (جنس — Jins)

Urdu recognizes only two grammatical genders:

1. مذکر (Muẕakkar) — Masculine
2. مؤنث (Mu'annas) — Feminine

Fundamental Principle: There is no neuter gender in Urdu. Every person, animal, insect, physical object, tree, and abstract idea is strictly either masculine or feminine.

Nouns are examined in two divisions:

• Animate Nouns (سچیتن / جاندار): Living humans and animals, governed largely by biological sex and morphological patterns.
• Inanimate nouns (بے جان) name things such as گھر (ghar), “house” (masculine), and کتاب (kitāb), “book” (feminine). The lesson on gender of inanimate nouns explains common patterns and exceptions.

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2. Gender Patterns in Animate Nouns

1. Inherent Biological Pairs (Natural Gender)

Distinct words exist for male and female beings:

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2. The Regular -ā / -ī Contrast

Masculine nouns ending in ا (-ā) often form their feminine counterparts by substituting with ی (-ī):

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3. Feminine Formed by Suffixation

(a) Adding -an (ن) to Masculine Occupational Nouns ending in -ī:

Tradesmen ending in ی (-ī) are masculine. Their feminine counterparts take ن (-an):

(b) Adding -nī (نی):

A productive suffix across animals and professions:

(c) Adding -ī (ی) to Consonant-Ending Roots:

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4. Arabic and Persian Loanword Endings

• Arabic Feminine in -ah (ہ):
  • والد (Wālid) — father → والدہ (Wālidah) — mother
  • عالم ('Ālim) — male scholar → عالمہ ('Ālimah) — female scholar
• Persian Personal Nouns in -ā / -ah (Masculine):
  • خواجہ (Khwājah) — master / nobleman
  • خدا (Khudā) — God
• Arabic Professional Nouns in -ī (Masculine):
  • منشی (Munshī) — scribe / writer / teacher
  • قاضی (Qāẓī) — Islamic judge
• Feminines in -iyā (یا):
  • بندریا (Bandariyā) — female monkey
  • بڑھیا (Buṛhiyā) — elderly woman

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5. Masculine Derived from Feminine Base

In certain domestic animals, the feminine form serves as the base noun:

• بھینس (Bhains) — female water-buffalo → بھینسا (Bhainsā) — male water-buffalo

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3. Epicene Animals (Single Inherent Grammatical Gender)

Many creatures, birds, and insects have only one fixed grammatical gender in Urdu, irrespective of their actual biological sex:

(a) Inherently Masculine Animals (مذکر حیوانات)

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(b) Inherently Feminine Animals (مؤنث حیوانات)

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4. Specifying Biological Sex of Epicenes: نر (Nar) and مادہ (Mādah)

When it is necessary to explicitly distinguish the biological sex of an epicene animal, Urdu prefixes:

• نر (Nar) — Male
• مادہ (Mādah) — Female

Examples:

• نر کوا (Nar kawwā) — Male crow
• مادہ کوا (Mādah kawwā) — Female crow
• نر لومڑی (Nar lomṛī) — Male fox
• مادہ لومڑی (Mādah lomṛī) — Female fox

Common Gender Word: The generic term جانور (Jānwar) — animal / creature is used flexibly as both masculine and feminine in common parlance.