In grammatical gender languages (cfr. Stahlberg 2007), like Spanish and Italian, the grammatical gender of personal nouns typically corresponds to their referent’s gender. This correspondence, however, lacks in cases like 1) and 2):
Il ministro Giulia.
the.M minister:M Giulia
“The minister Giulia”
La spia Mario.
the.F spy:F Mario
“The spy Mario”
Indeed, “ministro” is used in the masculine even when referring to women; spia in the feminine even when referring to men. Although in both cases the noun’s grammatical gender is independent of their referents’ gender, “ministro” and “spia” are generally considered as belonging to different categories: unmarked masculines (Formato 2019) and epicene nouns (Corbett 1991). This distinction, however, is typically taken for granted and rarely argued for. In this talk, I will fill in this gap by relying on two main sources of evidence: etymology, specifically pointing towards different sources for these fixed grammatical genders; and syntax, highlighting the distinctive Mixed Gender Concord patterns the two types of nouns have (cfr. Baggio ms). Based on these observations, I will conclude that unmarked masculines and epicene nouns are indeed distinct phenomena. I will further make some remarks on the factors influencing Mixed Gender Concord patterns.
