Obaba Museum

“…to defend her unity, and uphold her honour and glory.”

Nigerian Pledge

The excerpt above is from the Nigerian National Pledge. This is just one out of the many instances in which countries are addressed as feminine in the English Language.

Other Languages, European especially have masculine and feminine descriptions for inanimate objects. English which evolved from most of these languages seems to have dropped it somewhere in history.

You might remember that vehicles( cars, ships, motorbikes), the Earth and other spatial objects also make use of the feminine descriptions.

A mother is seen as the progenitor of life. Not underestimating the invaluable contribution of the Man. This causes every thing that seems to produce life referred to as a woman(The Earth, Our countries). Germany is the only country in the world that adresses their country as Fatherland.

Now to Vessels, you’ll be wondering why the feminine associations. They have no way of being seen as a producer of life. Feminine will be a better way for romanticizing while masculine will be for showing Strength.

It’s based on their differing biology. So they are being addressed as feminine for their beauty or the affection the owner has for it. This is why some vehicles are given pretty female names.

A vessel or vehicle you love can be addressed feminine. However, the feminine word used is usually different depending on the countries.

The English Language was born out of the need to have a central language among the various European settlers who spoke different languages. This reason is why most of the English words could always be linked to another language in terms of etymology.

The Languages had both masculine and feminine inanimate words. There were too many confusing masculine and feminine words. A masculine word in Latin might be feminine in French so the new language ditched it altogether for easier communication but kept the emotionally appealing part.

It’s also possible that chivalry also cemented the use of the feminine for countries. The men might have seen their homeland as somewhere to protect just like a woman and favoured the feminine way of addressing it.

Whichever way it is, the feminine gives a certain level of respect to the inanimate objects addressed with it. Mother Earth, our motherland etc.