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It is a well known fact of Latin grammar, that trees follow natural gender and are always feminine, even when the word form would suggest masculine gender, as in populus "poplar".

What does motivate this kind of gender assignment? Is there an accepted explanation of that fact?

EDIT: fdb brought up this forum thread and the main information is that the gender assignment of trees was instable in the development of modern Romance languages, with Portuguese and Sardinian being the most conservative ones in this respect. There is a hint, that the predominance of the feminine gender might be inherited from Proto-Indogermanic.

Sir Cornflakes
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  • Rōbur, robōris neuter, is not an exception since it means oak timber (Trojan horse Robur cavum ) Quercus fem. oak. – Hugh Jun 12 '19 at 16:33
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    "Natural gender" is totally the wrong word in this context. – fdb Jun 12 '19 at 16:37
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    @fdb Why? My Latin teacher told us in school with this term ("natürliches Geschlecht" in German). Ok, school and research are different spheres, but does it make this terminology wrong? – Sir Cornflakes Jun 12 '19 at 16:45
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    Trees are not "naturally" female. – fdb Jun 12 '19 at 16:47
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    While the terminology and the naturalness of femininity of trees are debatable, let us keep the focus on the actual question: Why are trees feminine? A discussion of the terminology would make a nice addition to any answer, but it is beside the main point. A separate question about the terminology is a good option. – Joonas Ilmavirta Jun 12 '19 at 16:49
  • @fdb ... for a native speaker of English heavily influenced by either a monotheistic religion or the scientific point of view. Heathen Romans probably had different thoughts about this, and this is the main point of my question. – Sir Cornflakes Jun 12 '19 at 16:57
  • perhaps of interest: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/gendering-trees.3361383/ – fdb Jun 12 '19 at 17:22
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    @fdb Agree! For instance, in present-day Russian, words for trees can be either feminine (береза, сосна) or masculine (дуб, клён). – Alex B. Jun 13 '19 at 12:26
  • I'd like to know this as well. I've looked up a few tree names in De Vaan, but nowhere does he explain why they're feminine. About quercus (u stem), he says "...since masculine and feminine u* and o stems tend to influence each other in nominative and accusative singular, and since o-stem tree names tend to be feminine, it cannot be excluded that quercus continues a Proto-Italic o stem."* This suggests that trees with (originally) u stems shouldn't be feminine. I don't know enough about the distinction between old o and u stems, though (which is now invisible?). – Cerberus Jun 25 '19 at 21:10
  • But see acer, aceris n. "maple tree". – Michaelyus Jun 26 '19 at 16:40

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