At the mention of the I-It versus the I-Thou relationships presented by Martin Buber, I became more curious about this man's philosophy. Being a native speaker of German, it is easier to conceive those types of relationships. In German, when people are referred to as you, they use either a formal word Sie or informal du. These words can be equivalent to the out-of-practice English word Thou and modern you. The use of the formal pronoun is, in essence, a depersonalization of a person. Sie is used when talking to a person you are not familiar with, such a professor, a waiter, or a sales clerk. Du is used with friends and family and other informal relationships. Du is for the people you know.
I began to consider this even further, contemplating German articles der, die, and das (masculine, feminine, and neuter). The various use of these definitive articles for each individual noun is confusing to a non-Native. It takes a lot of practice. I imagine I will never get it straight. I also choose not to worry about it too much, because to me, everything just gets the label the. Might there be cultural reasons for the gender of each article? Das Computer, die Banane, der Apfel. How much work would it take to compile a list and analyze the cultural etymology of a good sampling of words? How do German gender roles function? What correlations can be made between definitive articles and the function (or perceived function) of the associated noun in German society?
And what about nature? What about human relationships with the outside world? How many words in reference to natural things are neutral (das)? My supposition is that most neuter words are those of foreign origin and those that refer to technological things; in essence, things that are not personal to Germans. Things they don't have relationships with, or possibly even want to keep their distance from.
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