Gendered Nouns

In Kryptonian some nouns carry gender. Gender marking is done by altering the first vowel in a gendered word according to the vowel chart (figure 1). The left column contains the feminine vowels, the right column the masculine, and the center column the gender neutral. A gendered noun will be listed in the dictionary in its gender-neutral form with the changeable vowel underlined. This vowel, then, can be shifted to the left or the right column to indicate a specific gender.

Unlike many Earth languages, noun gender in Kryptonian is always a reflection of the natural gender of the object referenced by the word. Thus, where all nouns in a language such as Spanish carry "gender," only a handful of words do in Kryptonian. Furthermore, formal Kryptonian speech and writing uses the neutral gender whenever possible. Masculine/Feminine genders are only used when necessary for clarity and understanding.

In Practice...

Let us take three words as examples for how gender is used in Kryptonian. Listed first is the dictionary entry, followed by an example of how to change the vowel appropriately.

• O}s /aos/ baby ~ gn

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  O}s	/aos/	baby ~ gn ~
  		very young baby who is not yet able to speak; see also: kU}l e}Dyv Se}d
  	[a͡ʊs]
  Also: boy, child, girl, infant, kid, newborn

  is /is/ baby girl Os /aos/ baby us /us/ baby boy

• Se}d /shehd/ person ~ gn

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  Se}d	/shehd/	person ~ gn ~
  		person over the (approximate) age of 17 (Earth years); see also: O}s kU}l e}Dyv
  	[ʃɛd]
  Also: man, woman, adult, person, people

  SEd /shed/ woman Sed /shehd/ person Sod /shod/ man

• kU}l /kuhl/ child ~ gn

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  kU}l	/kuhl/	child ~ gn ~
  		a child below the (approximate) age of 17 (Earth years) who is able to speak clearly; see also: O}s Se}d e}Dyv
  	[kɑl]
  Also: girl, boy, youth, kid, teen, teenager

  kAl /kal/ girl kUl /kuhl/ child kal /kahl/ boy