Vaisselle is feminine, but lave-vaisselle is masculine.
Comment on why
djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks agoWell it works for this example, because lave-vaisselle is feminine. The root vasselle (dishes) is feminine.
scutiger@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
SorryQuick@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Une lave-vaisselle totally does not work.
FundMECFS@anarchist.nexus 2 weeks ago
vaiselle is actually inhereting its gender in an unrelated manner.
It comes from Latin vāscellum which is a Neuter noun.
But the specific form that gave rise to vaiselle was the collective plural of that noun vāscella.
source
And it’s a common pattern that in vulgar latin, (what gave rise to french), collective plural nouns were interpreted as feminine. I think this is a general tendency and unrelated to the noun’s meaning. The reason often given is that neuter plural endings and feminine singular endings were the same in Latin.
BTW; this is also the latin route of the english word vessel.
(PS: I agree with you that gender in language is problematic and I prefer non gendered as well).