fellow - fella?

[solbjerg]

Hi
I have been speculating about the word "fellow".
The dictionaries agree that it can be both male and female.
In the example a "fellow student" I also think of it as both sexes.
But in the example "my dear fellow" I expect the fellow to be male.
Is there any recognized expression that only means a female fellow?
How about fella? Or is that still both sexes? Or just a colloqial expression for fellow.
We do have wench and lad, so why not fella and fellow :-)
Cheers
solbjerg

[pc2]

We are not native English speakers, but, concerning the word "fella" (rhyming with "umbrella"), it seems that it's just a common way to pronounce the word "fellow". A colloquial expression for "fellow", like you said.
We found a discussion about this subject here, that you may find interesting (concerning the words "feller", "fella" and "fellow"): http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1113375.
We thought that it served for both genders, but, according to that link, it seems that "fella" is only for male gender, while "fellow" can refer to both genders.
You can also verify it in Wolfram|Alpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fella), which defines "fella" as "a boy or man".

[solbjerg]

Hi pc2
Thank you!
Yes I had my doubts about the fellow that said fella was the female form.
To mix it even more up let me suggest "fellow sheila" :-)
Thanks again for the links!
Cheers
solbjerg

We are not native English speakers, but, concerning the word "fella" (rhyming with "umbrella"), it seems that it's just a common way to pronounce the word "fellow". A colloquial expression for "fellow", like you said.
We found a discussion about this subject here, that you may find interesting (concerning the words "feller", "fella" and "fellow"): http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1113375.
We thought that it served for both genders, but, according to that link, it seems that "fella" is only for male gender, while "fellow" can refer to both genders.
You can also verify it in Wolfram|Alpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fella), which defines "fella" as "a boy or man".

[Katya]

Hello,
I was just browsing old threads and thought I would add my two cents as a native speaker. As an adjective fellow can be used for either gender. As a noun synonymous to guy it is only for males and this in the only context in which it could be spelled "fella" corresponding to colloquial pronunciation (fellow as an adjective is only used in more a formal style). As a noun referring to a scholar appointed to a research position or temporarily affiliated with an institution it can be used for men or women, again this is a formal setting where the colloquial spelling would not be used.

ex.
adj. She's my fellow student./ He's my fellow student.
adj. (guy) Look at that fella (or fellow) standing in the middle of the road! Come on little fella, you can do it! Hey, fella, what's your problem?
adj. (position) She's a fellow at the Brookings Institute./ He's a fellow at the Brookings Institute.

One very small exception, for thoroughness: there is a popular song "For he's a jolly good fellow" that is sometimes sung at congratulatory events, and if the guest of honor is a woman it may be sung as "For she's a jolly good fellow", but only because there is no good female equivalent that scans. (As a literal minded kind, this always bugged me, and I would insist that Mom couldn't be a fellow )

[pc2]

One very small exception, for thoroughness: there is a popular song "For he's a jolly good fellow" that is sometimes sung at congratulatory events, and if the guest of honor is a woman it may be sung as "For she's a jolly good fellow", but only because there is no good female equivalent that scans. (As a literal minded kind, this always bugged me, and I would insist that Mom couldn't be a fellow )

Another similar situation is the use, in colloquial English (at least in the United States), of "you guys" as a pronoun meaning the same as "you" (plural) or "you all". We find it odd that "you guys" appears to be used for both genders, even though the word "guy" is male.
"Good guy" is another expression involving "guy" that seems to be used for both genders (for example, the expression "(s)he is one of the good guys").