I know a lot of languages have some aspects that probably seem a bit strange to non-native speakers…in the case of gendered words is there a point other than “just the way its always been” that explains it a bit better?
I don’t have gendered words in my native language, and from the outside looking in I’m not sure what gendered words actually provide in terms of context? Is there more to it that I’m not quite following?
Even though the main reason is that it’s allways has been so, I can see two minor arguments that haven’t been said here yet:
(From Czech perspective this is not really a thing, becouse before you stumble across one of the few words that have this property, you can usually estimate the origin of the speaker by another signs.)
(I am not backed by any scientific study here, it’s only my feeling; and you could also claim that better solution would be ungendered language without animate/inanimate distinction, or classifying animals as animates.)