Theoretical bases of a grammatical meaning of category of gender in the different-system languages and ways of its expression
The paper offers a new understanding of ontological essence of the category of gender which is among the grammatical phenomena difficult to explain. The research focuses upon identification of a grammatical meaning of category of gender, and ways of its expression in the different-system languages. This work is relevant because it is necessary to study more profoundly grammatical potential of category of gender conformably to languages of different type. The following methods were used in this work: the synchronous descriptive analysis (this method allows us to consider a semantic syntagmatic structure of gender forms, to characterize various ways of expression of category of gender); the synchronous semantic analysis (the method promotes identification of a correlation between semantics of the relation to a sex and language functions); the method of linguistic observation and typological method. The category of gender represents a composite dialectic unity of plans of the contents and plans of expression. The paper shows that it is necessary to revise the opinion, widespread in modern linguistics, on a role of agreement in system of a grammatical gender. Despite essential distinctions between means of expression of gender, they are united by a uniform functional feature. Results of research on features of functioning of category of gender in the different-system languages expand known ideas of category of gender and stimulate further researches in this sphere.