On the use of ゆえ - Difference between ゆえに and ゆえの

Question

I'm confused about the use of ゆえ in case it is followed by の instead of に.

In the second case I know that ゆえ indicates a consequence, a sort of "Some state/condition ゆえに some consequence".

However, the following sentence (coming from an exercise book for N1) confuses me:

男女平等といっても、女性[...]の差別はまだ残っている。

The possible answers to pick from were たる、ゆえ、なり、こそ, and the correct one would be indeed ゆえ (at first I mistakenly chose たる thinking of "being a woman", but now I realize probably that would not work because of how the sentence continues from there).

Anyway, I can't understand why ゆえ is correct. Could someone explain if in this case (that is, followed by の) ゆえ has a different interpretation? How would you translate the sentence above in the most literal way? Thank you.

Answer 1

I think you got the meaning of ゆえ backward: It does not mean consequence, but reason/basis. The word's direct attachment is to what comes before it, not to what follows. This might be the root of your confusion.

Quite naturally, the ゆえ's meaning (i.e. that of basis/reason) is the same both in the (conjunctive-)adverbial (X)ゆえに and in the adnominal (X)ゆえの.

X ゆえに Y = On the basis of X, Y.; Because (of) X, Y.　(E.g. 女性ゆえに差別を受ける。→ "Becasue of/On the basis of (being) a woman, one receives discrimination.")

X ゆえの Y = X-based Y; Y by reason of X　(E.g. 女性ゆえの差別 → "womanhood-based discrimination/discrimination by reason of womanhood")

Answer 2

The simple answer is　ゆえの modifies a noun and ゆえに modifies a verb and an adjective. ゆえ means because (of).

So 女性ゆえの差別 means "discrimination because of a woman". 女性ゆえに差別はまだ残っている is translated as "the discrimination remains because he is female but I feel this is a bit unnatural.

Answer 3

Edited:

As goldbrick says, you seem to have misunderstood the meaning of 「ゆえ」 in 「ゆえに」. It doesn't indicates a consequence, a sort of "Some condition ゆえに some consequence", but it indicates some condition that leads to some consequence.

I think you misunderstand the phrase as "some condition, ゆえに some consequence" just like "some condition, よって some consequence" but the correct interpretation should be "some condition ゆえに, some consequence" just like "some condition なので, some consequence".
Watch the correct position of a comma precisely!

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Original

I'm confused about the use of ゆえ in case it is followed by の instead of に.

Group 1 は、意味（差別の内容）が、Group 2 に比べて明確です。 Group 2 では、意味の確定度合いが低いので、いろいろな解釈が生じます。
The meaning or the contents of discrimination of Group 1 is clearer compared to that of Group 2. In Group 2, since the degree of determination of the meaning is low or the degree of ambiguity of the meaning is high, various interpretations will occur.

例えば、極端な例ですが、2-2 は、2-3 の文で「首相が」と「男性が女性より不利になるという」を省略しているとも解釈ができます。
For example, although it may be an extreme example, the sentence 2-2 can also be interpreted omitting "首相 prime minister" and "男性が女性より不利になるという men are more disadvantageous than women" in the sentence 2-3.

文章は、特殊な場合は別ですが、受け取る側でいろいろな解釈の余地がない方がよい文章だと思います。
I think a sentence is, aside from special cases, better to have less room for various interpretations on the receiving side.

この説明で、「ゆえの」と「ゆえに」の違いが分かりますか？
I hope you will get the difference by the explanation.

Group 1

1-1 男女平等といっても、女性ゆえの差別はまだ残っている。
1-2 男女平等といっても、女性ゆえの差別は、まだ残っている。

Even if we say gender equality, discrimination because of a woman still remains.

Group 2

2-1 男女平等といっても、女性ゆえに差別はまだ残っている。
2-2 男女平等といっても、女性ゆえに、差別はまだ残っている。
Even if we say gender equality, discrimination still remains because of a woman.

2-3 男女平等といっても、首相が女性ゆえに、男性が女性より不利になるという差別がまだ残っている。
Even if we say gender equality, the discrimination of that men are more disadvantageous than women still remains because of the prime minister being a woman.

Answer 4

Since の comes right after it, the blank has to be a noun that connects to the noun 女性, that is, among the choices, ゆえ or なり (apart from a set phrase [verb] から こその). With them, the sentence will be, respectively,

• …女性ゆえの差別はまだ残っている: Discrimination because of being a woman still remains.
• …女性なりの差別は残っている: Discrimination in a unique manner to women still remains.

The latter could be interpreted as almost the same as the former, but it's more likely to mean that "women can still discriminate someone in their own way".