The system of generic noun endings (typical for most Slavic languages) creates a lot of problems for foreigners who decide to study them. On the other hand, it allows the speaker to know exactly what kind of a certain name is. However, there are a number of indeclinable words (often of foreign origin) in which it is not possible to define this category so simply. How to be in such a case? Let's find out what is said about this in the grammar of the Russian language using the example of the word "kangaroo" and the like.
What does the noun "kangaroo" mean
Before dealing with the gender of this term, it is worth learning about its lexical meaning.
The word "kangaroo" refers to a whole biological group of mammals, which are characterized by bearing their children in bags.
These animals have very strong hind legs and move withusing jumps. On their way, they are able to jump over obstacles up to three meters. At the same time, their speed of movement is very high - up to sixty kilometers per hour.
Depending on the breed, the size of a kangaroo ranges from five hundred grams to ninety kilograms.
In some respects, these creatures are close to camels. They are also herbivores and can live without water for a long time, which is a very valuable skill in the Australian desert.
The process of the appearance of offspring in these animals is very exotic. After the moment of conception and before birth, a little more than a month usually passes (depending on the species, up to forty days). A born baby, even in the largest breeds, is no larger than a bean. After his birth, the “happy mother” puts her child in a bag and wears it like that for about six months, until the cub gets stronger.
Few people know about this, but one of the most useful and easily digestible protein products for the human body is the meat of this mammal. However, due to the fact that these animals are found only on one continent (Australia and the island systems surrounding it), only a few can afford to eat this dietary delicacy.
Unlike cows and other cattle, kangaroos do not metabolize methane (polluting the atmosphere). This is because the bacteria living in the creature's intestines function differently.
The gender of the word in English
Unlike other English nouns, what kind of "kangaroo" to defineyou can.
The fact is that for this breed of animals there are separate terms for males, females and cubs: boomer (male), flyer (female), joey - child.
Phonetic transcription of the noun
Having learned interesting facts about this amazing mammal, it is worth considering how to pronounce its name correctly. The transcription of this word will help with this.
She will look like this [k'inguru]. The stress is placed on the last syllable "ru". It is worth paying special attention to the fact that when pronouncing the first syllable, instead of “e”, you need to say the sound “i”.
Phonetic analysis of the term
After reviewing the transcription, let's take a look at the phonetic analysis of the word "kangaroo".
This term consists of seven letters and the same number of sounds.
[k'] - deaf consonant; softness is given to it by the next vowel - "e".
[and] – unstressed vowel.
[n] - voiced consonant, sonorant, hard.
[g] - voiced consonant, hard.
[y] – unstressed vowel.
[r] - voiced consonant, sonorant, hard.
[y] – stressed vowel.
What kind of word is "kangaroo"
After getting acquainted with new and interesting information about the creature in question, as a biological species, it is worth finally finding out the most important thing. So what kind of kangaroo?
There is an unambiguous answer to this question: in Russian, thisthe noun is masculine.
For example: "When I was visiting friends in Australia, I was lucky to see a beautiful kangaroo."
Genus of the word "kangaroo", if we mean the female of this animal
Although the invariant term in question is masculine, there are some peculiarities in its use. So, when the sentence refers to a female kangaroo (what kind of word is indicated in the previous paragraph) or the context indicates it, agreement with other parts of speech is carried out in such a way as if it were feminine.
For example: "The kangaroo has very strong hind legs, with which it is able to inflict heavy blows." In this case, the animal is described in a general way, so the noun is used in the masculine gender.
However: “The female kangaroo is able to stop the development of the embryo in the womb. She can continue to do this until she carries out the child born earlier in the bag. In this example, to the question: “What kind of kangaroo?”, The correct answer would be female. Since there is a clear indication of the gender of the mammal in the first sentence.
What is the gender of immutable nouns that name animals
Having figured out what kind of word "kangaroo" (male) and in what cases it is permissible to use female, it is worth finding out how this category is generally defined in Russian if these are invariable nouns.
The grammar says that the names of varieties of animals and birds of foreign origin in mostcases are masculine. In addition to the noun "kangaroo", such words as "pony", "chimpanzee", "koala", "cockatoo", "flamingo" fall under this rule. At the same time, the tsetse fly and the washi fish variety are exceptions to this rule and are feminine.
As for the females of the animals and birds discussed above, then (as in the case of the word "kangaroo") in the sentence, these nouns can be coordinated with other parts of speech as feminine words.
