THE PRESENCE OF FEMININE GRAMMATICAL GENDER IN THE NOMINA AGENTIS CATEGORY IN ITALIAN DICTIONARIES DE MAURO AND IL SABATINI COLETTI

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the relationship between language and gender in the Italian language, with specific reference to the names indicating professions. The work is divided into two parts: in the first part a general picture of the situation is outlined through a synthesis of the most significant academic and institutional contributions in the field of language and gender studies in Italy, with particular reference to the Raccomandazioni per un uso non sessista della lingua Italiana by Alma Sabatini. Furthermore, some basic hints are given of the morphological mechanisms of formation of the feminine of nouns that indicate feminine professions. The second part, on the other hand, consists in analysing the presence of the feminine of professional names in two prestigious Italian dictionaries available online: De Mauro and Il Sabatini Coletti. The final objective of the analysis is to examine to what extent recommendations and initiatives aimed at the use of the female gender for professional qualifications have been put into practice.