What kind of "tulle" in Russian? Causes of confusion

Few words are so often spelled with an error, like "tulle". The most common mistake in a word is not the absence of a soft sign or confusion with a vowel, but use in the wrong kind. Very often, even in a professional environment, one can hear how the word "tulle" is inclined as a feminine noun. So what kind of "tulle" in Russian really and why?

The meaning of the word "tulle"

Practically in every house under thick curtains you can see a thin curtain called tulle. But, from the point of view of the stylistics of the Russian language, this is not entirely correct. This is a curtain made of tulle, that is, it is the name of the fabric, not the product itself. Curtains are often made of tulle, and such a type is called a curtain. The popularity of use for sewing curtains is determined by the translucence. This property allows you to muffle the blinding sunlight, without having flattened the apartment in full gloom.

But there is another kind of tulle - smooth, which decorate clothes and even sew dresses, underwear and skirts from it. Moreover, the manufacture of clothing was primary, and only then the fabric was used to decorate the room.

Tulle (or bobinet) is a translucent fabric of a mesh structure that is made of cotton, lavsan and silk threads. As a decoration, it is similar to woven lace. Tulle can be just transparent or patterned or embroidered. The structure is both rigid and flowing. The grid itself can be either invisible to the eye or large.

Origin of the word

The word is of French origin. It is formed from the name of the city in France Tulle (Tulle), with a population of no more than 20 thousand people. Because this city is considered the birthplace of tulle, it was here that he was invented. This is not the first such experience in the formation of the name of the fabric. Jersey, cashmere and boston are all also names of the cities where the production of these fabrics started.

According to legend, Louis XI asked to make for him such a fabric, beyond which there would be no visible person, but he could watch everyone. The reason for this request was that his future wife did not want her face to be seen at the wedding. At his request, the craftsmen responded from the small town of Tul. The fabric they liked so pleased the king that it was from her that she was ordered to sew a dress for his bride.

Popularity to the fabric came in the XVIII century. Especially in the UK at the time, tulle clothes were very fashionable.

Now in French there is the word Tulle in two versions: the name of the city and the actual name of the type of fabric. Both words in French are invariably masculine. In addition to Russian, in many European languages the word is similar in sound with the original source.

What kind of "tulle" in Russian

Male or female, and maybe everything depends on the context? So, the noun "tulle" - what is his kind? The answer to the question is unequivocal: male. There can be no options here. All adjectives and participles used with this word must also be exclusively masculine. And the application to this word of female epithets of this kind, for example "the finest", is erroneous. Tulle is of masculine gender, and it can only be the thinnest.

Why the "tulle" of masculine gender

What is the reason of this genus? If you start to understand in detail what kind of word "tulle" in Russian, you can see that the name from which it happened was already a masculine gender. And according to the laws of word formation, the genus is also borrowed. And already in the process of exploitation the word itself became the source of word formation. For example, from it there was a word a tulle (a tulle curtain).

Does the word "tulle"?

To some, this word seems to be indeclinable. The word is inclined, but not according to the paradigm of declination 3, as it may seem, but according to the paradigm of 2 declensions. Just like the words of a king, a raincoat, a kid and a vestibule.

According to the school curriculum, the second declension in the Russian language includes words of the middle genus with the ending -e and -o and masculine words with zero ending. The word suits the second category, because "ь" is not an ending, it is part of the basis of the word. But the plural has no word.

Why is the genus confused in the word "tulle"

Yes, indeed, why do even quite educated people ask themselves about what kind of word "tulle" is in Russian? It's simple, it happens by analogy. Regardless of what the saying, cloth or curtain has in mind, these are feminine words.

Another analogy in the subconscious mind occurs with the words 3 declination, such as: "night", "daughter", "mouse". The system of declensions has changed a lot since its origin, and not all words ending in a soft sign are now feminine, as many borrowings have appeared.

At the time of borrowing the word, the Russian nobility was very familiar with French, and for them it was obvious what kind of "tulle" is in Russian. But people, far from balls and social parties, inclined the word by analogy with the words familiar to them. This society left Russia after the revolution, and few remembered how to speak correctly. Thus, the word has acquired a "new" clan identity. People substitute the genus for the noun by analogy, and in most cases it works, but not always.

People are simply unaccustomed and alien to what kind of "tulle" in Russian really is. A similar story happened with the word "coffee", which according to the rules of masculine gender, but often used on average.

Regardless of what many say wrong, one must strive to perfectly know the true rules of the language. Learning rules by heart is a huge step to this, but there will always be words that you just need to remember. Almost all of them are borrowed, and most are from French. As an example, you can mention "grand piano", "piano", "corn," with their kind, too, was not always clear.