According to their morphological composition nouns can be divided

into SIMPLE, DERIVED, AND COMPOUND.

SIMPLE nouns consist of only one root-morpheme: dog,chair,etc.
DERIVED nouns (derivatives) are composed of one root-
morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes or
suffixes) e.g. - al: betrayal, portrayal, refusal
COMPOUND nouns consist of at least two stems.
noun stem + noun stem: seaman
adjective stem + noun stem: bluebell
verb stem + noun stem: pickpocket
gerund + noun stem: looking-glass
noun stem + prepositions + noun stem: mother-in-law
substantivized phrases: forget-me-not
Morphologically NOUNs are characterized by the grammatical categories of NUMBER (singular
and plural) and CASE (the common case and the genitive case).
GENDER does not find regular morphological expression. The distinction of male, female, and neuter
may correspond to the lexical meaning of the noun (i.e. it may be expressed lexically by means of different
words or word-compounds)

There are also some traditional associations of certain nouns with gender:
a) moon and earth are referred to as feminine, sun as masculine:
At first the earth was large, but every moment she grew smaller.
b) the names of vessels (ship, boat, steamer, ice-breaker, cruiser, etc.) are referred to as feminine:
The new ice-breaker has started on her maiden voyage.
c) the names of vehicles (car, carriage, coach) may also be referred to as feminine, especially by their owners, to
express their affectionate attitude to these objects: She is a fine car.
d) the names of countries, if the country is not considered as a mere geographical territory, are referred to as
feminine: England is proud of her poets.
But: If the name of the country is meant as a geographical one the pronoun it is used. Iceland is an island, it is
washed on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.
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