Английского

§ 3. Alongside of the demonstrated grammatical (or lexico-
grammatical, for that matter) gender distinctions, English nouns 
can show the sex of their referents lexically, either by means of be-
ing combined with certain notional words used as sex indicators, or 
else by suffixal derivation. Cf.: boy-friend, girl-friend; man-
producer, woman-producer; washer-man, washer-woman; landlord, 
landlady; bull-calf, cow-calf; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow; he-bear, 
she-bear; master, mistress; actor, actress; executor, executrix; lion, 
lioness; sultan, sultana; etc. 
One might think that this kind of the expression of sex runs con-
trary to the presented gender system of nouns, since the sex distinc-
tions inherent in the cited pairs of words refer not only to human 
beings (persons), but also to all the other animate beings. On closer 
observation, however, we see that this is not at all so. In fact, the 
referents of such nouns as 

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jenny-ass, or pea-hen, or the like will in the common use quite 
naturally be represented as it, the same as the referents of the cor-
responding masculine nouns jack-ass, pea-cock, and the like. This 
kind of representation is different in principle from the correspond-
ing representation of such nounal pairs as woman — man, sister — 
brother, etc. 
On the other hand, when the pronominal relation of the non-person 
animate nouns is turned, respectively, into he and she, we can 
speak of a grammatical personifying transposition, very typical of 
English. This kind of transposition affects not only animate nouns, 
but also a wide range of inanimate nouns, being regulated in every-
day language by cultural-historical traditions. Compare the refer-
ence of she with the names of countries, vehicles, weaker animals, 
etc.; the reference of he with the names of stronger animals, the 
names of phenomena suggesting crude strength and fierceness, etc.