Lässt sich das grammatische Genus bei Insektenbezeichnungen semantisch begründen?
Can the Grammatical Gender Be Semantically Justified in the Case of Insect Names?

Summary/Abstract: The present paper deals with the problem of assigning the grammatical gender in insect neunes, which has not been investigated so far. We decided to apply the semantic criterion taking into account the views and opinions shared by such grammarians as Consentius, Grimm and Wienold. The problems is discussed referring to the criteria of insect classification. The insects, divided into groups, were studied in terms of grammatical gender. The clear and definite advantage of one gender provided the basis for assigning a given grammatical gender to this group. The most explicit and unambiguous result was obtained while applying the criterion of „Way of living”. Following this criterion, it was found that only insects of the feminine gender live in organized communities.

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