A chimpanzee is one of the great apes. Some scientists even argue that chimpanzees are closest to humans in their anatomy and physiology.
Interesting facts about the animal
Chimpanzees are highly intelligent and exhibit good learning ability. These are socialized animals that can imitate the more high-status members of the pack. Aggressive and capable of killing on the basis of competition. The growth of males is up to 170 cm, weight - up to 70 kg. Almost the size of a man! But usually they give the impression of being smaller in size, because they move based on all 4 limbs. Females are usually smaller. The brain of monkeys is only 25-30% of the human.
These animals, like other species of monkeys, cause some ridicule and are not attractive to everyone. They seem to be a parody of people. Someone is touched by their ridiculous tricks, but at the same time, those who are familiar with their intellect have respect for them, as for younger brothers.
These monkeys are the favorite experimental scientists, and all thanks to the ingenuity of these primates. Chimpanzees are able to use tools, unlike all other animals. For example, they make a stick for digging a termite, cleaning branches from leaves, and even make a sponge from chewed leaves to extract water from a tree hollow.
"Chimpanzee" - an indestructible noun
How to determine the genus of chimpanzees? For this, the peculiarity of these monkeys as a biological species is not at all important, because the genus, in contrast to sex, is a linguistic category. Therefore, the subject of our analysis will be the very word "chimpanzee", the genus of which must be determined. And this noun is interesting in that it is indeclinable. Among the names of animals, there are other indeclinable nouns. Usually such words are borrowed and have an ending that is not typical for Russian nouns. Indeed, when a noun ends in the usual way for us - for a consonant or for a / s - it changes by the type of the second or first declension: koala - koalas, cheetah - cheetah. But the endings -o and -e are also characteristic of Russian nouns! Yes, but only for the middle family. And the middle gender is not typical for animated nouns, to which animals belong, with the exception of the word "animal". But it is a generalizing word and carries a hue of abstractness. But for the specific names of animals, the middle gender is not suitable in any way, so words like “chimpanzees” are non-declining. Let's now define the gender of the noun chimpanzee.
Kind of non-declining words
This is despite the fact that these words are also borrowed. Why are there so many words of foreign origin among animal names? There is logic here. We are unlikely to meet animals with such names in their native forests. Bear, wolf, fox - the words are originally Russian. But for the names of exotic animals living in other parts of the globe, their names were not found. That is why the zoo of indeclinable nouns is full of tropical animals and birds: kangaroos, zebu, cockatoo, emu, kiwi, flamingos.
How to determine the genus of chimpanzees, if the word does not lean? There is a general rule for all non-declining animal names. Depending on the sex of the animal, they can apply to both male and female. But if the gender is unknown, then the base will be the male chimpanzee. For example, "funny chimpanzee"; "chimpanzees fed their cubs."
Tsetse and Iwashi become exceptions - they relate to the female genus, apparently correlating with the usual refinements: tsetse fly and Iwashi herring. What about other immutable nouns?
About other immutable words
With inanimate nouns, things are much simpler. All of them belong to the middle family: a fashionable coat, a strict jury. But with the word "coffee" historically, it was attributed to the male gender. All this is because in the XIX century it was called "coffee". Recently, both male and middle gender in the name of this drink have been recognized as permissible.
If the indefinite word refers to a person, then his gender will be determined by gender: a bold hidalgo, a refined lady. The names of professions are usually masculine: impressive impresario, military attache.
The origin of the word "chimpanzee"
Where did this name of the monkey come from in Russian? Presumably from German or French - in them it sounds the same and differs only in spelling. In French, as the researchers suggest, the word came from one of the languages of Africa, where it meant "monkey." The French chimpanzee genus is also masculine, but with the addition of femelle ("female") it becomes feminine.
Now you know what kind of "chimpanzee", and you will use this word correctly!