Description:

The modifier lijy is mainly used with word for family relations and people and specifies that the person being talked about is female. Derived as lijyn, it means a female, or femininity in general. NWO speakers, especially those from the social elite, use it to refer to gender identity rather than biological sex when talking about human, except in cases where the biological sex is specifically the most salient thing for some reason.

See the related modifier 'cejy' for male or masculine that works in precisely the same way.

In the Old Common of Davidson, only the 'lijy' and 'lijyn' forms were used and gender neutral terms were the norm. The society that actually speaks Common is relatively progressive but not that progressive and much more preoccupied with gender. During the middle period the prefix versions began to appear which allowed the coining of gendered words for people and relationships where the gender was much more intrinsic to the word.

The prefix form l(i)(j)-'  and its companion c(e)(j)-' work as follows based on the phonology of the term to which they is affixed:

• If the term begins with a consonant, the (j) is dropped and the first syllable of the term itself is stressed (the li or ce is always unstressed).
• If the term begins with a vowel other than the nucleus vowel of the prefix (i for li and e for ce), then the prefix works as above, but the j is not dropped.
• If the term begins with the nucleus vowel of the prefix, then the nucleus vowel and the j are dropped and there is no change to the stress pattern.

The forms 'lijynys' and 'cejynys', in which the gender modifiers are abstractified affix -(y)nys, are used to clarify through which side of the family a particular relation is related. 'Lijynys' means materal and when applied as a noun modifier of origin means that the relation to which it is applied is through the mother's side; 'cejynys' means 'paternal' in the same fashion.