Final answer:
Words that can be male or female, notably those ending in -ista, are typically nouns and pronouns. These terms reflect gender attributes in language, which has evolved toward gender neutrality, especially in the use of pronouns and the declining use of the -ess suffix.
Step-by-step explanation:
Words that can be male or female, especially those that end in -ista, fall under the categories of nouns and pronouns. This conforms to the notion that nouns, such as 'actor/actress' or 'waiter/waitress,' and pronouns like 'he/she,' represent persons, places, or things and can exhibit gender properties. The rise of gender-neutral language has led to a shift from gender-specific terms, encouraging the use of inclusive language.
Moreover, some languages, like German and Spanish, have gendered nouns, affecting how speakers of those languages perceive the world around them. Nevertheless, the English language has moved towards not stressing the distinction between male and female in words, as seen with the decline in the use of -ess suffixes.
Pronouns, another part of speech, replace nouns and noun phrases and are essential to constructing cohesive sentences. In English, there is a historical preference for using masculine pronouns to refer to indefinite pronouns or generic nouns, though modern usage is shifting towards gender neutrality.