Language/Tajik/Grammar/Gender

Tajik Grammar - Gender

Hi Tajik learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about Tajik grammar gender. Tajik, like many other languages, has masculine and feminine genders for its nouns and adjectives. Tajik gender has some similarities with the gender system in other Indo-European languages. But, it also has some unique differences that we will discover together. By the end of this lesson, you will have a clear understanding of Tajik gender and how to use it effectively. So, let's get started!

Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: Negation in Sentences & Vowels and Consonants.

Introduction to Tajik Gender

Gender systems divide nouns into different classes based on certain characteristics such as biological sex, grammatical gender, or animacy. In Tajik, we use two grammatical gender categories, masculine and feminine. Gender is an essential component of Tajik grammar, as it affects how Tajik nouns and adjectives are declined and agreed. You cannot speak Tajik fluently without understanding its gender system.

Tajik gender helps to distinguish between male and female, living beings, and non-living beings. We use different noun genders to differentiate between people, animals, and objects. New learners may find it difficult to determine the gender of nouns, but with practice, it becomes easier.

Let's look at an example to understand how Tajik gender works:

Tajik	Pronunciation	English
мард	mard	man
зан	zan	woman

As we can see, the Tajik words for man and woman have two different genders. мард (mard) is a masculine noun, while зан (zan) is a feminine noun. If we see the word for man, we know that this word represents a male, and we use masculine adjectives and pronouns. Similarly, if we see the word for woman, we know that it represents a female, and we use feminine adjectives and pronouns.

Now that we know what Tajik gender is let's move on to more advanced topics.

Tajik Masculine Gender

Masculine gender in Tajik is used for males, masculine objects, and animals. Tajik masculine nouns often end in -он or -ен, such as милитарӣ (militarī, military) or муҳаммадҳон (Muhammadҳon, Muhammad's), or -ар, -ор or -ир, such as хатормуқсудкор (khatormuqsoodkor, seeker of objectives) or бандор (bandōr, eagle).

When Tajik masculine nouns end in a consonant, we can add a suffix -ӣ which changes them to their masculine form. For instance, the word духтар (duxtar, daughter) can become духтарӣ (duxtarī, son) by adding the suffix -ӣ. We can also add the suffix -гӯ (гӮ) to make a masculine proper name. For example, the feminine proper name Раҳима (Rahima) can become Раҳимагӯ (Rahimagu), a masculine name.

Here are some examples of Tajik Masculine Nouns:

Tajik	Pronunciation	English
кӯдратӣ	kudratī	power
нафакӣ	nafakī	generosity
чоркунӣ	chorkunī	sparrow hawk
фурӯғӣ	furogī	flight

Tajik Feminine Gender

Feminine gender in Tajik is used for females, feminine objects, and animals. Tajik feminine nouns often end in -ӣ Зорӣ (zorī, difficulty) or -она, such as шӯста (shūsta, slim), рӯчӣ (rūchī, face), or бӯбона (būbona, ladybug).

When Tajik feminine nouns end in a consonant, we can add a suffix -ӣ to change them to their feminine form. For instance, the word хар (xar, donkey) can become харӣ (xarī, jenny) by adding the suffix -ӣ. We can also add the suffix -зан to turn a masculine proper name into a feminine one. For example, the masculine proper name Муҳаммад (Muhammad) can become Муҳаммадзан (Muhammadzan), a feminine name.

Here are some examples of Tajik Feminine Nouns:

Tajik	Pronunciation	English
забонӣ	zabonī	language
хубнамӣ	khubnamī	beauty
ширинӣ	shirinī	sweetness
ҷавононӣ	javononī	youthfulness

Gender Agreement in Tajik

Tajik adjectives and possessive pronouns agree with the gender of the noun they modify. Adjectives ending in -ӣ are usually masculine, while feminine adjectives end in -ӣя. There are a few exceptions, so it's essential to memorize them.

Here is an example:

• Person 1: Ман забони Тоҷикӣро дуст медорам (Man zaboni Tojikīro dust mēdoram, I love the Tajik language).
• Person 2: Ман ҳам донишҷӯ дар забони Тоҷикӣя (Man ham donishju dar zaboni Tojikīya, I am also a student of Tajik language)

As we can see, adjectives Тоҷикӣ (Tojikī, Tajik) and Тоҷикӣя (Tojikīya, Tajik) agrees in gender with the nouns забон (zabon, language) and донишҷӯ (donishjū, student) respectively.

Tajik Gender for "You"

In Tajik, the pronoun "you" has both masculine (шумо) and feminine (шумо) versions. The difference between them is in their usage. We use the masculine form when addressing a male or a group of males, and the feminine form when speaking to a woman or a group of women. When speaking to a mixed group, the masculine form is used as the default form.

Here is an example of how to use the Tajik gender for "you":

• Person 1: Салом! Шумо номи шуморо ба ман бегӯед? (Salom! Shumo nōmi shumōro bā man begūed? Hello! Can you tell me your name?)
• Person 2: Ба номи ман Раҳимааст. А шумо, номи шумо чист? (Bā nōmi man Rahimaast. A shumo, nōmi shumō chist? My name is Rahima. And you, what is your name?)

Tajik Gender for Plurals

In Tajik, gender is also used to differentiate between plural forms of words. For instance, if we want to say "students" in Tajik, we use the word донишҷӯ in the singular form for a male student, and донишҷӯӣ for female students.

Here is an example:

• Person 1: Бисёр аз донишҷӯҳои рӯзнома шоҳодаҳо хеле ҳунарманданд. (Bisyōr az donishjūhoi rūznomā shohudaho khēlē hunarmandand. Many of the students in the journal today are very talented)
• Person 2: Ман ҳам бисёр аз донишҷӯҳо донишҷӯ нашриёти "Хуршед" мебошам. (Man ham bisyōr az donishjūho donishjū nashriyōti "Khurshed" mēbōsham. I am also one of the students who works for the "Khurshed" publications)

Exceptions to Tajik Masculine and Feminine Gender

There are some words in Tajik which don’t follow the traditional gender rules. Some words do not have any gender, while others have a mixed gender. However, they still have a specific article according to Tajik grammar. The article is usually "и" (i).

For instance, the word рӯз (rūz, day) is an ungendered word. We use the article "и" (i) before this word, regardless of the number or gender of the noun in a sentence. Here are some more examples of words that don't have a gender:

Tajik	Pronunciation	English
барот	barōt	bus
яктоб	yaktob	spider
абришам	abrisham	silk
робит	robit	robot

Digging Deeper into Tajik Gender

To improve your Tajik Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

If you want to learn more about Tajik gender, we recommend the following sources:

Sources

• Tajik grammar - Wikipedia
• Tajik Grammar - Gender

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Other Lessons

• Plurals
• Personal pronouns
• How to Use Be
• Future Tense
• Negation
• Nouns
• Pronouns
• Personal Pronouns
• Conditional Mood
• Give your Opinion