Thursday, March 15, 2012

Are rivers male or female?


 rain-swollen Scioto River, March 2012, Dublin, Ohio
(click to embiggen)

Is there a difference between a boy river and a girl river? Are there guidelines for determining the gender of a river? The English language has no masculine or feminine articles, our nouns are neuter. But some genderizing in the river naming department is going on, like “Old Man River” for the mighty Mississippi. 
Many times if a river is rushing, powerful, dangerous, it is thought of as male.  On the other hand, if it is a gentle, curvaceous, easy on the eyes, it is considered female.  In this case, most would agree, the lovely Scioto definitely qualifies as female. 
Things aren’t always this simple. There are no cut-and-dry rules about river names and genders. Names vary by characteristics, culture, geography, and history. Many river names have no gender, like the Nile, at 4,130 miles, generally considered the world’s longest river.
The next time you encounter a river, ask a local if it is male or female. The answer might surprise you with interesting culture of the history of the river or region. Just one of those random things I like to think about...


No man ever steps in the same river twice, 
for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. 

 Heraclitus 

24 comments:

  1. The Deschutes River runs through Bend Oregon ... it meanders gently through the city ... it is wild and unpredictable elsewhere ... sounds female to me!

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  2. Dear Tess: Interesting~! Wonders why the French do gender-ize objects whereas English do not. Deciding the gender of an object (and numbers) would be a fun thing to do. Can you imagine in the salon's when the professeurs were determining the sex of said item? Something protruding must make it male, or something flouncy makes it female? Wonders what the criteria would determine a la or a le?

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  3. I never thought about it. I don't know why, because I tend to genderize my cars! My 95 Riviera was a female. My 06 Scion was a male. Named Sci. (Yeah, I named him) My week old CX-7? Not sure yet. Just don't know if it's male or female. I'm leaning to female.
    Good lord, this sounds like I'm interviewing for the rubber room!!!

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  4. I have never considered the gender of a waterway. Interesting.

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  5. OHIO is a word meaning 'beautiful' and so Ohio River MUST be female. I never met a beautiful MAN, other than Muhammad Ali, aka Cassius Clay!

    Tess, good question you raise. I'll go to sleep thinking about that (in 2 minutes!) and dream about it, then awaken with the answers!!!

    Zzzzzzz!

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  6. Tess, I often scroll down to your macro manor as I enjoy it. You haven't changed it in quite some time.

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  7. As I'm sure you are aware, here in France it is 'La Rivière', so all French rivers are feminine... I'd go along with that!

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  8. It is certainly Old Father Thames here in the UK - I suspect the gentle ones are seen as female - and why not.

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  9. The Scioto very much female in my opinion ... she's deep, she flows, she curves, she can be still, she can be wild, and so on ...

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  10. I think you have to get a "feel" for a river-(& visit some of it sources)
    -androgyny isn't bad-but mythology is good too!

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  11. Sometimes a river seems to be either male or female, depending upon where it is on its journey. I think of the Fraser River in British Columbia. When it is coming through the Canyon, particularly Hell's Gate, it has one direction only, it is fast and forceful, urgent and dangerous. When viewed at its Delta closer to the Pacific it is still powerful but has many subtle moods. It can be cool and grey in the early morning, sparkling and lively at noon, heather-colored and profound at sunset.

    Thoughtful post. Thank you.

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  12. Rick, my red trusty Volvo DL "Old Red" was a female...but my 96 Land Rover is definitely a male...

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  13. Thanks Donna, it's so nice to know someone reads my Macro! I'll get it updated for you...

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  14. R.A.D. you would love the Scioto...

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  15. And the German language has genders for nouns too. Der, Die and Das. You seem to have really set people to thinking with this. I often think of weird things like this too but have never considered the rivers around here either/or. And I'm not quite sure why. Now cars...definitely!

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  16. Spanish is great for genders but I don't recall any particular "la" or "el" rivers in Mexico when I lived there. Hmmm. Is it "la Rio Grande" or "el Rio Grande."

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  17. I took a Nile cruise a few years back but never thought to ask about the gender. Is there any fishing or swimming to be had in the Scioto?

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  18. Oh, the Scioto is definitely female! R.A.D. would LOVE the curves and mounds around Chillicothe, lol! I think the Ohio is female, too...it reminded German immigrants of the Rhine, which to me is SO feminine, for some reason. I've been thinking about this post for awhile, Tess...I think her tributaries, the Jacob Fork and Henry Rivers, are perhaps teenage boys, but my beloved old South Fork is feminine, especially the stretch near where I grew up. Very thought-provoking post, my friend!

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  19. Never thought about it that way! The gender will be female when there are elements of peace,sweetness and beauty that relate to females. The opposite is true for males, robust,
    inconsiderate or whatever. Just wild guesses!

    Hank

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  20. Such a lovely blog! So glad I found you; I'm now a follower!
    Best,
    Anne ♥♥

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  21. Female. The place they most like to be in is banks.

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  22. I was going to try and post a serious comment, but Stafford Ray just gave me a fit of the giggles.

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  23. Hmmm I wonder if my river...the Wood River...is considered male or female. I will definitely ask my native neighbors when I can. Meantime I will think of it as "her"...

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  24. Nah, a river is a body of water heading down hill. No gender. Dull & prosaic, sorry.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)