silmeth wrote:
The language does not necessarily have to follow biblical logic in that matter. In Slavic languages there is no problem with using words like Polish anielica or Russian ангелица (angyelitsa), attested in dictionaries, meaning literally ‘a female angel’, used often to describe a gentle, kind woman, just as anioł, ангел (masculine in grammatical gender, can be used as biological-sex-neutral) can be used to describe any good person.
And – even though in Irish case there might not be any feminine version of angel in use – the question was absolutely valid for a language not known to the person asking, regardless of biblical status of angels – as there are languages with feminine words for ‘female angels’, like some Slavic ones.
Redwolf wrote:
It's actually a very common misconception that grammatical gender corresponds to sex. For people who have never studied a gendered language, the whole thing can be very confusing. It can be even more confusing when you realize that "Aingeal" can be a woman's name in Irish!
From a biblical standpoint it is true that angels are always assigned masculine attributes. It's also true that, at least in Judeo-Christian theology, humans don't become angels after death. But popular culture is an entirely different thing, and that's where most people who request this translation are coming from.
Redwolf
When I made my post, I was foolish in that I both wrote it in haste and failed to articulate my point properly. Without getting back into the whole thing, I was attempting just to comment on the topic from a purely biblical viewpoint. I didn't in any way, mean to imply that feminine gendered words for angels could not exist or that it was foolish to inquire about them. Please forgive my carelessly worded post.
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