06 May 2011, 10:22 am
That is not random.
Je serais curieuse d'en savoir davantage but this is not random to me 
Since your French is so good, could we open a threat dedicated to it in the foreign chapter of the forum?
07 May 2011, 5:22 am
I will admit that the gender in German appears, from a modern perspective, to be quite arbitrary but it's a little clearer if you examine languages like Althochdeutsch (Old High German) and Gothic (Wright's Grammar of the Gothic language is a great book on the subject and is quite possibly one of the best finds I have ever made in the local used book shop).
Correct. The way gender has evolved in German seems arbitrary to a learner, and perhaps even to some native speakers, but it's not exactly. Modern spelling changes and the introduction of contemporary words and loanwords from other languages have made some of the patterns less obvious, but there are definitely patterns. I used to have a book that went into this more, but I've long lost that book. When I was younger, and German was the only language I knew beyond beginner level, I could intuit gender much better than I do now (reading a lot of older German helps too and I was reading German philosophers for grad school).
French too isn't as arbitrary as people might think. It's just the rules of gender have gotten a bit complex, and so you don't usually learn the rules until you a bit advanced. Most beginner and intermediate students are usually just told to memorize gender.
You have reminded me that there was an old copy of one of Wittgenstein's texts in German at one of the local bookstores...I should go see if they still have it
07 May 2011, 11:55 am
ShenLong
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Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,277
Location: With Murphy Freestylin' and Ricky Easy
09 May 2011, 7:45 pm
09 May 2011, 8:41 pm
Atama, kata, hiza, ashi (hiza, ashi)
Atama, kata, hiza, ashi (hiza, ashi)
Me to mimi to kuchi to ohana,
Atama, kata, hiza, ashi (hiza, ashi)
AnonymousAnonymous
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Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 72,068
Location: Portland, Oregon
10 May 2011, 1:45 pm
11 May 2011, 6:37 pm
Vatnið rennur av høvum fjøllum
og eftir hvøssum gróti
So ilt er at leggja ást við hon
ið onga leggur ímóti.
Water runs down high mountains
and along sharp rocks
So painful is it to love she
who doesn't love you back.
From an awesome Faeroese song. 
11 May 2011, 10:53 pm
Ha! Wittgensteins Texte auf Deutsch sind hochkompliziert, aber wenigstens ist Wittgenstein nicht so kompliziert wie Heidegger!! !
11 May 2011, 11:31 pm
12 May 2011, 10:29 am
AnonymousAnonymous
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Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 72,068
Location: Portland, Oregon
12 May 2011, 5:20 pm
13 May 2011, 4:30 am
Kittendumpling
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Joined: 29 Apr 2011
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 55
Location: Dundee, UK
13 May 2011, 9:39 am
13 May 2011, 10:55 am
14 May 2011, 1:40 am
16 May 2011, 6:49 am
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