Perhaps “Weib”
An outdated,today slightly pejorative, word for “Frau”
But to me the term “das Fischerweib” doesn’t sound familiar either, so I am not sure
Re:The Awful German Language (1880)
by denton-scratch on Monday May 17, 2021 @05:45AM
(#27181623)
I didn't know Weib was considered perjorative - although I've never had occasion to use the word.
The English word 'man' used to mean 'person'. A female person became a 'wife-man', i.e. a woman. So the word 'mankind', for example, doesn't (or didn't) imply that female humans don't exist.
Re:The Awful German Language (1880)
by aloe_falsa on Monday May 17, 2021 @09:52AM
(#27183388)
For a less antiquated example, imagine that the text introduces the girl (das Mädchen) Fiona, and then persists in referring to her as "es", because the word Mädchen has a neutral gender.
"Fischerweib" could work. Doesn't sound familiar to me either, but it's a valid compound word at least...
Das Fischweib auf dem Markte, welch' Ware bietet es wohl feil?
As a german, accept my apologies.
Though I don't get which word for "fishwife" exactly he was referring to that has a neutral gender.
Closest translations that come to mind are "Fischersfrau", "Fischerin" - or even "Fischverkäuferin" if you want to be bureaucratic. But all of these are grammatically female.
edit: TIL "Fischweib" is a well-established word (and indeed neutral). Wikipedia translates it to "mermaid" though, which doesn't really seem to fit the story.