Quote Originally Posted by Philippus Flavius Homovallumus View Post
There is, in fact, no such thing as a "Gender-Neutral" word because all words, in all languages, have gendered roots.
Quote Originally Posted by Montmorency View Post

Also, it is plainly false to say all words in all languages have gendered roots.
Quote Originally Posted by Philippus Flavius Homovallumus View Post

The fact is gender-neutral language is a crock.
Quote Originally Posted by Montmorency View Post
Language is certainly not neutral - but that has to do with speakers and nothing to do with etymology or grammar.
It seems to me that you both (at least PFH) mix up grammatical gender and gender as a social construct. In the case of the former languages don't manifest a universal pattern. There are languages which don't have this grammatical category (like modern English which has lost it as an aftermath of the Norman conquest) while others have it. The number of genders also differs - some languages have a three member gender opposition (Ukrainian or German -
feminine::masculine::neuter) others only two (like in Spanish - feminine::masculine). Moreover, the term "grammatical category" is erroneously applied in relation to nouns while it is quite accurate in relation to adjectives.