1.Introduction 2. Gender in the Turkish language system 3. Covert gender – the semantics of terms without overt gender distinctions 3.1 Covert gender 3.2 Covert gender in context 3.3 Linguistic effects of covert gender 4. Asymmetrical gender marking 5. The male-human ambiguity 5.1 Male = human 5.2 Human > male 6. Gender in Turkish proverbs 7. Gender in terms of abuse and verbal insults 8. Feminist language critique and linguistic change in Turkish 9. Conclusion Notes References