A JOKE THAT TURNED INTO A SPANISH LESSON

An email joke was re-sent with additional commentary, since it was ripe with a certain linguistic humor, which in turn sparked a discussion that related to lessons that we are covering in the Rosarito Study Group:

The Joke:

A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'

'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'

A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender (la computadora) because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

At this point, it is noted that, in reality, the Spanish word for computer is feminine (la computadora).

The reason Spanish has masculine and feminine words is very interesting and relates to the culture of the original Spanish speakers and how they described their universe linguistically.

As I understand it, that culture in its primitive state had a pronounced division between males and females. As a result, things that women did or used were considered feminine, and stuff that was oriented towards men's activities or objects they used was usually assigned a male declination.

For example, objects that related to the home, family, or were nurturing and protective were considered feminine: house - la Casa, bed - la cama, rain - la lluvia, cow - la baca, etc.

Stuff that guys did or was associated with them was masculine:

the trip - el viaje, the garden - el jardín, wine - el vino, the horse (male or female) - el caballo, etc.

However, the gender of Spanish nouns is unpredictable. For example, the word for a woman's dress is el vestido, and has the masculine gender. A man's tie has a feminine gender, la corbata. A person's hand is la mano, and is feminine.

To answer the question of why the Spanish word for computer is feminine? My guess is that computers can sometimes be very confusing and what you see is not always what you get. From this we have obtained the English acronym, PC (Personal Confuser).
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My Tocayo, Pat Osio, then got the ball rolling to another facet of Spanish language study:

"Does it play on your explanation that there doesn't seem to be 'neutral' words in Spanish --- everything has either its own noun word = el perro, la perra, el caballo, la yegua, etc... so there is no 'it.'"

That requires an exact definition of "it" perhaps.

A Spanish direct object pronoun "lo" or "la" translates the English "it."

Sign it: fírmalo/fírmala

Often the English "it" is simply not directly translated into Spanish, or as you say, "so there is no 'it.'" Context is everything, such as introducing a person or event.

It's me: Soy yo.

You're it! (children's games): ¡Tú (la) paras!

Spanish impersonal verb declinations do not have the literal "it" that appears in English because a Spanish speaker does not consider "it."

I often wonder what goes on in the Latin mind ...

It is hot: Hace calor. (literally - It [the weather] makes heat.) 

But you can give (to) it with an indirect pronoun.

I gave it another coat of paint: Le di otra mano de pintura.

Stephen King's novel "It", was translated into Spanish as "Ello" or "Eso", depending the Spanish-speaking country. However, most books had the title "It (Ello)", with "Ello" in brackets.

"It" is not defined in the same manner in Spanish as in English. The English neuter concept is not as inclusive for Spanish speakers and therefore a literal third person conjugation does not consider a specific personal pronoun for the concept of "it." After all, Spanish is a language that assigned a gender to the word for "bicycle" (bicicleta - feminine). HUH? I never could figure that one ...

But I guess if you are required to assign a gender to an object that requires a learning curve to ride, it might as well be feminine.

For the most part, "it" simply does not exist in Spanish. With a couple of exceptions, the language does not recognize a neuter gender (see la Profesora's comments below *).

In a certain sense, Latin was easier. You had declined pronouns (masculine, feminine, & neuter - singular & plural).  Latin was intricately structured (requiring the student to engage in intensive memorization in order to pass the next quiz).  However it had an inherent logic and connection with English which included the concept of "it."

For example:

hic - he, hec - she, hoc - it (Nominative case singular pronouns) agree with the noun to which they relate.
The other cases: Accusative, Genitive, etc., have unique declinations also.

One might say Spanish is not as precise as English. It has an indirect manner of construction or expression which relies heavily on context. I am always trying to fill in the blanks.

Carmen then commented: "I also am trying to fill in the blanks....and NOT JUST IN SPANISH! Lots of luck!"

* Take note of la Profesora's observation:

"When we start again with class this is a good theme to talk about. There is an it but only for it what we know about or think about. It for YOU KNOW IT, a masculine think of which you are speaking or thinking.

Hasta pronto, Susana"
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"After reading your explanation, I realized how lucky I was to have learned Spanish at a very early age forgoing all the 'mix me up till my brain can't take it any more' lessons.

Happy New Years to you and Anne also tocayo.

Pat"

I get carried away sometimes ...

The Rosarito Spanish Study Group meets every Monday at Noon, at las Mañanitas on Blvd. Benito Juárez.