Original title: Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio: Quantifying the Dual-Track Mechanism of Gender Assignment in Latvian Loanwords
Yelingyun Zhang, Atis Kapenieks, Marina Platonova · September 2026
When languages borrow words from English, those borrowed words often end up treated as grammatically masculine. Researchers struggle to explain why, because strict word-ending rules and default choices are usually mixed together. To solve this, researchers created a measurement called the Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio. It measures how much borrowed words rely on fixed word endings, which are attached word parts that signal gender, versus open choice. They tested this on borrowed nouns in Latvian. They found that feminine borrowed words rely significantly more on fixed endings. Meanwhile, masculine borrowed words are concentrated in the free-choice zone. This pattern is specific to borrowed words, has grown stronger in modern usage, and shows how a masculine default gets reinforced during language contact.
Imagine sorting laundry where socks must go in the small drawer due to their size, but shirts can go in either drawer. You notice that all the socks from one brand end up in the small drawer, while shirts from that brand are scattered in both. In this paper, the FSDR measures how many words are like socks fixed by their endings versus shirts that can go anywhere, finding feminine loanwords act like socks and masculine ones like shirts.
This helps linguists predict how languages change when they borrow words, which matters for understanding language evolution. For Latvian speakers, it explains why some borrowed words feel natural in one gender.
The abstract doesn't state specific limitations, but the study focuses only on Latvian noun lemma types borrowed from English, so it may not apply to other languages or word categories. It also doesn't explain the underlying reasons for the asymmetry, just quantifies it.
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Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio: Quantifying the Dual-Track Mechanism of Gender Assignment in Latvian Loanwords — Yelingyun Zhang, Atis Kapenieks, Marina Platonova
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.