Am Thu, 28 Apr 2016 09:15:27 +0000 schrieb Chris <wend...@tcd.ie>: > Except when it corresponds to the natural gender, i.e. der Mann, > die Frau. It's interesting that the word for child is neuter (das > Kind). Looks like children are not yet considered to be of any > sex, which makes a lot of sense.
Child is the generic word to boy and girl. It's "das Kind" ♂ ♀ "der Junge" "das Mädchen" where Mädchen is neutrum, because it is a diminuitive form. These are used in some languages to denote something little/young/cute/lesser. A cute, little hare (der Hase) is "das Häschen". Beware though that a not so cute Mädchen is NOT "die Made" by reverse, because that would be a maggot. -- Marco