neuterný

Neuterní is a term primarily used in linguistics to refer to the neuter gender in grammar. Grammatical gender is a system where nouns are classified into different categories, often arbitrarily, and this classification can affect the form of other words in a sentence, such as adjectives, pronouns, and articles.

The neuter gender is one of the most common gender classifications found in Indo-European languages, alongside masculine and feminine. In languages that possess it, neuter nouns often represent inanimate objects, abstract concepts, or sometimes young creatures. However, the assignment of gender to a noun is not always logical and can vary significantly between languages.

Historically, many ancient languages, such as Latin and Ancient Greek, had a well-defined neuter gender. In modern languages, the presence and form of the neuter gender differ. For example, German has a neuter gender, and many nouns like "das Mädchen" (the girl) are grammatically neuter despite referring to a female person. English has largely lost its grammatical gender system, retaining only vestiges in pronouns where "it" is typically used for inanimate objects and sometimes for babies or animals of indeterminate sex. Some Slavic languages also retain a neuter gender. The study of neuterní is therefore relevant to understanding the grammatical structure and evolution of many languages.