Here is a little thing I did this afternoon. It's not big deal but is a bit interesting if you are struggling with noun gender.

Since there are many variables, I decided to look at a sample of a few hundred nouns from all declensions (bar irregular) and see what came out. 5 general grades for placing a noun:

Functional class (abstractnoun ; object/concreate; mass; body)
Strongish tendency for functonal class to override other condiderations

Actor class (family, profession, characters)
Natural gender very strong

Nominal class (names)
Actor gender, very very likely to override

Suffix class (óg etc)
Determining

Phonotactic class (final vowel, polarity of consonant)
Very strong where nouns have been rationalised

What this suggested that a noun was determined by a number of factors which must be condidered together (no shock there)

Its all a bit messy, but in more depth:

Rules (read: tendencies):

Functional class:

abstract nouns like anger (i.e. non-projecable into direct imagry) are mostly feminine

concreate nouns like cat (i.e. projectable into direct imagry) are mostly masculine

mass nouns like rain and sea (massivly parallel entities composed of ‘submerged’ conponents) tend towards feminine

body nouns like hand, eye etc that are composit entities or part of a larger part (arm, face) are feminine


Actor class:

Family member nouns tend to follow the natural gender of the actor (mother =feminine, father =masculine) very strongly

Profession nouns are mostly ending in clear markers (long vowel and final r) and for historical reasons are felt to be masculine. Where women predominate, natural gender means nouns are feminine (banaltra)

Óir Bádóir Boatman
Eoir Feirmeoir Farmer
(a)ire Cabaire Chatterer
(a)í Scéalaí Storyteller
éir búistéir butcher

Characters are gendered based on suffixes and natural gender and phonotactics (that is, contextually)


Nominal class:

Personal first names go with the natural gender of the person (or pet!)

Surnames change based on the gender pre-fix (Ó, Ní etc) and other declensionary considerations not relivant here


Suffix class:
masculine (as, adh, án, an, ín) altho it has to be said that only ín is productive, so they could have gone into the phonotactic set

feminine (óg, eog, íocht, lann)


Phonotactic class:
Masculine (Most general rule: broad final consonant; no data for o and u)

á
ó
ú
í

e
i

a in short nouns

ach in monosylables
ach in derivatives
(e)adh moladh praise
(e)adh moladh praise
(e)amh caitheamh spending
ás sólás solace/consolation
úr casúr hammer
ún naisiún nation
éad firéad ferret
éal buidéal bottle
éar suipéar supper
(e)ad droichead bridge
ar bór road
ste óraiste orange

Feminine (Most general rule: slender final consonant; No data on short o and u).

é bé maid

(e) acht (2+ syllables) cláirseach harp
seach móiréis haughtiness
áil(t) spáráil sparing
aíl feadaíl whistling
(a) irt bagairt threat
(a) ilt meilt griding
(a) int caint talking
ís mailís malice
áid úsáid usage
óid liathróid ball

Finally, a quick test based on the rules:

cable cábla ; slabhra
english loan word; concreate noun; bi-syllabic; final a MASC
cache folachán
final án suffix MASC
calculation áireamh ; comhaireamh
somewhat abstract; braod ending; amh ending MASC
calculator áireamhán
án suffix MASC
calculus calcalas
name of subject; as ending MASC
calendar féilire
concreate object with nuaces of abstract; ire ending MASC

6/6

camomile fíogadán ; camán ;[camomile tea tae fíogadáin]
án suffix MASC
camouflage ceileatram ;
braod ending; ‘concreate feature’ or secondary feature of an object MASC
duaithníocht ;
íocht final suffix FEM
camp campa ;
short noun plus a final; disyllabic MASC
campáil
long vowel followed by final slender consonant FEM
longfort ;
final broad cluster with broad r MASC

6/6

Cancer an Portán
Final án MASC
candidate iarrthtóir
óir is a profession suffix MASC

2/2

cannabis cannabas
ending is –as MASC
cannibal canablach
2+ syllables ending in ach FEM
cannon canónach
2+ syllables ending in ach FEM
capital city príomhchathair
final slender r and short vowel MASC
capitalism caipitleachas
final –as MASC

2/5

captive cime ;
captive is a concreate entity; final front e MASC
daor
final r with long prior vowel MASC
géibheannach
long word woth final ach FEM
captivity géibheann
final broad consonat; contains long vowel and fricaitve NOT SURE; FEM
carbon carbón
long vowel and final braod n MASC
carburettor carbradóir
profession ending MASC
carcass conablach
ach at end on 3 syllabic noun FEM

4/7

24 noun sample

No correct based on rules: 20

Some observations: adjectives needed to be learned (and considered) as they can confuse analysis; final long consonants such as –ill, inn heavily weight towards feminine, as does final long nn and ll for masculine. The rule for –ach with 2 or more syllables is frequently over ridden when a noun is very ‘unfeminine’ in its referent

While a very small sample, a success rate of +80% is encouraging