Editing Gender neutral language in French
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{{Gender neutral language}} | {{Gender neutral language}} | ||
Like all Romance languages, French has many gendered markers in nouns and adjectives. This page explains the different strategies that are used to be as neutral as possible with this language. | |||
==Non | == Non neologisms == | ||
=== Refeminization<ref name=":0">Divergenres (2021): ''Guide de grammaire neutre et inclusive''. Québec. Online at: https://divergenres.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/guide-grammaireinclusive-final.pdf.</ref> === | |||
Before the 17th century, French had — as Italian, Spanish, and other Romance languages still have today — a feminine inflection for female professionals. However, for several reasons (both societal, i.e., misogynistic<ref name=":1">Becquelin, Hélène: ''Langage en tout genre. Argument historique''. Université de Neuchâtel. Online at: https://www.unine.ch/epicene/home/pourquoi/argument-historique.html (12.12.2023).</ref><ref name=":12">Viennot, Eliane (2023): Pour un langage non sexiste ! Les accords égalitaires en français. Online at: https://www.elianeviennot.fr/Langue-accords.html.</ref> and linguistic<ref name=":2">MOREAU, Marie-Louise. ''L’accord de proximité dans l’écriture inclusive. Peut-on utiliser n’importe quel argument ?'' In : ''Les discours de référence sur la langue française'' [en ligne]. Bruxelles : Presses de l’Université Saint-Louis, 2019 (généré le 12 décembre 2023). Disponible sur Internet : <<nowiki>http://books.openedition.org/pusl/26517</nowiki>>. ISBN : 9782802802457. DOI : <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pusl.26517</nowiki>.</ref>, as the French language was being standardized and dialect speakers were expected to learn French), grammarians made sure that the feminine denominations vanished from the language.<ref name=":1" /> Today, a lot of people talk of 'feminization', because they feel like these occupational titles are neologisms. However, they actually aren't, since they are being recovered from an older version of the French language, which is why 'refeminization' is more accurate. Even though it sounds counter-intuitive, refeminization is part of a process to degenderize the French language, since studies from different languages have shown that the generic masculine is cognitively not neutral,<ref>Tibblin, J., Weijer, J. van de, Granfeldt, J., & Gygax, P. (2023). There are more women in joggeur·euses than in joggeurs : On the effects of gender-fair forms on perceived gender ratios in French role nouns. ''Journal of French Language Studies, 33'', 28‑51. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959269522000217.</ref><ref>Heise, E. (2003). Auch einfühlsame Studenten sind Männer: Das generische Maskulinum und die mentale Repräsentation von Personen [Even empathic students are men: The generic masculine and the mental representation of persons]. ''Verhaltenstherapie & Psychosoziale Praxis, 35''(2), 285–291.</ref> even though the French prescriptive grammar considers it as such.<ref name=":3">Alchimy (2017): « Le masculin l’emporte sur le féminin » : Bien plus qu’une règle de grammaire. ''Usbek&Rica'': "Selon Le Bon Usage de Maurice Grevisse, l'adjectif se met donc au 'genre indifférencié, c'est-à-dire au masculin'."</ref> By mentioning also the feminine form of a word, speakers visualize people of more genders than just one. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
Line 15: | Line 13: | ||
!Refeminized | !Refeminized | ||
|- | |- | ||
| un auteur | |un auteur | ||
|une auteur(e) | |une auteur(e) | ||
| une autrice | |une autrice | ||
|- | |- | ||
|un professeur | |un professeur | ||
Line 32: | Line 30: | ||
|} | |} | ||
===Doublets=== | === Doublets === | ||
For example, « Nous prions les <u>étudiantes</u> et (les) <u>étudiants</u> de remettre leur copie à la personne responsable ». Some people don't enjoy the repetition,<ref name=":10">OMPI (2022): ''Guide de l’OMPI pour un langage inclusif en français''. Online at: https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/women-and-ip/fr/docs/guidelines-inclusive-language.pdf | For example, « Nous prions les <u>étudiantes</u> et (les) <u>étudiants</u> de remettre leur copie à la personne responsable ». Some people don't enjoy the repetition,<ref name=":10">OMPI (2022): ''Guide de l’OMPI pour un langage inclusif en français''. Genève. Online at: https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/women-and-ip/fr/docs/guidelines-inclusive-language.pdf.</ref> others consider that the doublets don't encompass all genders,<ref name=":4">Ménard, Jean-Sébastien (2021): ''Pour un français neutre et une inclusion des personnes non binaires : une entrevue avec Florence Ashley''. Longueuil. Online at:https://www.cegepmontpetit.ca/static/uploaded/Files/Cegep/Centre%20de%20reference/Le%20francais%20saffiche/Une-entrevue-avec-Florence-Ashley.pdf (12.12.2023), p. 13, p. 6.</ref> others again are unsure which form to mention first, since the order conveys information about the value the speaker gives to each item.<ref>Pascal Gygax, Manon Boschard, Geoffrey Cornet, Magali Croci, Natasha Stegmann (2021): ''Les outils - la (re)féminisation. Langage inclusif''. Online at: https://tube.switch.ch/videos/0xwYktNzRp, 00:50.</ref> | ||
===Shortened doublets=== | === Shortened doublets<ref name=":4" /> === | ||
The feminine suffix is attached to the masculine, rather than the whole word being repeated (as in classical doublets).<ref name=":10 | The feminine suffix is attached to the masculine, rather than the whole word being repeated (as in classical doublets).<ref name=":10" /> | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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|} | |} | ||
===Epicene person descriptions=== | === Epicene person descriptions<ref name=":0" /> === | ||
For | For example, « <u>Les élèves</u> apprennent leur leçon. »; « <u>L'enfant</u> regarde la télévision. »; « <u>Les juges</u> ont pris leur décision. ». Since singular articles mark gender ('la' and 'le'), this functions best with plural forms. It works with singular forms if the noun starts with a vowel, because the article automatically turns into 'l'...', which doesn't mark gender. A downside is that there aren't epicene occupational titles for all professions or functions. | ||
=== | === Grammatically fixed gender nouns and impersonal formulations<ref name=":11" /> === | ||
The table below shows gendered language on the left and neutral — i.e. grammatical gender that has nothing to do with biological sex or gender identity — language on the right. | The table below shows gendered language on the left and neutral — i.e. grammatical gender that has nothing to do with biological sex or gender identity — language on the right. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+Impersonal formulations | ||
!Inclusive gendered language | !Inclusive gendered language | ||
!Inclusive neutral language | !Inclusive neutral language | ||
Line 73: | Line 69: | ||
|} | |} | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+Grammatically fixed gender nouns | ||
!Explicit binary gender | !Explicit binary gender | ||
!Grammatically fixed gender | !Grammatically fixed gender | ||
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|} | |} | ||
===Proximity agreement | === Proximity agreement<ref>EPFL (2023): ''L’accord de proximité''. Online at:https://www.epfl.ch/about/equality/fr/langage-inclusif/guide/principes/accord/ (12.12.2023).</ref> === | ||
Up to the 18th century, in adjectives and past participles, the masculine gender didn't necessarily prevail over the feminine in cases where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity and free-choice agreement coexisted along with the masculine-over-feminine rule.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> For a long part of ancient French history, proximity agreement was the most widespread way to make adjectives, past participles, etc. agree (cf. Anglade 1931:172).<ref>Anglade, Joseph (1931): ''Grammaire élémentaire de l'ancien français''. Paris: Armand Colin, 157-196. Online at: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Grammaire_%C3%A9l%C3%A9mentaire_de_l%E2%80%99ancien_fran%C3%A7ais/Chapitre_6.</ref> Today, this agreement could allow for equality between grammatical genders instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was suggested in the 17th and 18th century by the French grammarians Malherbe, Vaugelas, Bouhours and Beauzée: | |||
*« Le genre masculin, étant le plus noble, doit prédominer toutes les fois que le masculin et le féminin se trouvent ensemble. » (Claude Favre de Vaugelas, ''Remarques sur la langue français''e, 1647).<ref name=":1" /> | |||
« Lorsque les deux genres se rencontrent, il faut que le plus noble l’emporte. » (Bouhours 1675).<ref name=":3" /> | *« Lorsque les deux genres se rencontrent, il faut que le plus noble l’emporte. » (Bouhours 1675).<ref name=":3" /> | ||
*« Le genre masculin est réputé plus noble que le féminin à cause de la supériorité du mâle sur la femelle. » (Beauzée 1767).<ref name=":3" /> | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
!Masculine-prevails-over-feminine rule | !Masculine-prevails-over-feminine rule | ||
!Proximity agreement | !Proximity agreement | ||
|- | |- | ||
|Ces œillets et ces roses sont '''beaux'''. | |Ces œillets et ces roses sont '''beaux'''. | ||
|Ces œillets et ces roses sont '''belles'''. | |Ces œillets et ces roses sont '''belles'''. | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Les '''nombreux''' filles et garçons. | |Les '''nombreux''' filles et garçons. | ||
| Les '''nombreuses''' filles et garçons. | |Les '''nombreuses''' filles et garçons. | ||
|} | |} | ||
==Neologisms== | ==Neologisms== | ||
===Personal pronouns=== | === Personal pronouns === | ||
====Subject pronouns==== | ==== Subject pronouns ==== | ||
French only | French only marks gender on the third person singular (cf. 'elle' and 'il'). Up to the 12th century, French knew the neutral subject pronoun 'el'/'al'.<ref>Marchello-Nizia Christiane. Le neutre et l'impersonnel. In: ''Linx'', n°21, 1989. Genre et langage. Actes du colloque tenu à Paris X-Nanterre les 14-15-16 décembre 1988, sous la direction de Eliane Koskas et Danielle Leeman. 173-179. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/linx.1989.1139. Online at: www.persee.fr/doc/linx_0246-8743_1989_num_21_1_1139.</ref> Today, 'el' cannot be recuperated from ancient French as it would be pronounced the same as 'elle', the current feminin subject pronoun. As for 'al', it sounds like 'elle' in spoken Laurentian French (Canada).<ref name=":5">Florence Ashley (2019): Les personnes non-binaires en français : une perspective concernée et militante. In: ''H-France Salon'' 11(14), p. 6.</ref> It could, however, be an interesting candidate for the rest of the francophone community.<ref name=":13">Alpheratz (2018): Genre neutre.TABLEAUX RÉCAPITULATIFS de mots de genre neutre (extraits). Online at: https://www.alpheratz.fr/linguistique/genre-neutre/.</ref> Nowadays, according to the ''Guide de rédaction inclusive'' (2021:14) from the Laval University,<ref name=":11">Université Laval (2021): Guide de rédaction inclusive. Online at: https://www.ulaval.ca/sites/default/files/EDI/Guide_redaction_inclusive_DC_UL.pdf.</ref> the ''Guide de grammaire neutre et inclusive'' (2021:5) from Divergenres,<ref name=":0" /> the ''Petit dico de français neutre/inclusif'' (2018) from La vie en Queer,<ref name=":6">La vie en Queer (2018): Petit dico de français neutre/inclusif. Online at: https://lavieenqueer.wordpress.com/2018/07/26/petit-dico-de-francais-neutre-inclusif/.</ref> and Wiki Trans (2019),<ref name=":7">Wiki Trans (2019): Comment parler d'une personne non binaire ? Online at: https://wikitrans.co/2019/12/25/comment-parler-dune-personne-non-binaire/.</ref> the most widespread subject (neo)pronoun is 'iel'. It was added 2021 to the grand dictionary Le Robert.<ref>Radio Télévision Suisse (2021): L'entrée du pronom "iel" dans Le Robert provoque des remous. Online at: https://www.rts.ch/info/monde/12651159-lentree-du-pronom-iel-dans-le-robert-provoque-des-remous.html.</ref> Next to 'iel', Laurentian French also uses 'ille'.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> In metropolitan France, the 'al' pronoun proposed by the linguist Alpheratz in their book ''Grammaire du français inclusif'' (2018) has gained some recognition. The following table presents the main gender neutral subject pronouns found in the French-speaking world. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
! | ! | ||
! colspan="3" | | ! colspan="3" |Gender neutral subject pronouns | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Dominant usage | !Dominant usage | ||
|iel <small>[jɛl]</small> | |iel <small>[jɛl]</small> | ||
|ille <small>[ij]</small><ref name=":5" /> | |ille <small>[ij]</small><ref name=":5" /> | ||
| al | |al | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Peripheral usage | !Peripheral usage | ||
|ol | |ol | ||
|ul | |ul | ||
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|} | |} | ||
====Clitic and tonic pronouns==== | ==== Clitic and tonic pronouns ==== | ||
French distinguishes between clitic and tonic pronouns. A clitic is a word that attaches in a syntactically rigid way to another word to form a prosodic unit with it, lacking prosodic as well as distributional autonomy.<ref name=":8">Michel, | French distinguishes between clitic and tonic pronouns. A clitic is a word that attaches in a syntactically rigid way to another word to form a prosodic unit with it, lacking prosodic as well as distributional autonomy.<ref name=":8">Michel Launey, Dominique Levet (2017): ''La catégorie de la personne''. Maison des Sciences des l'Homme Paris Nord. Online at: https://web.ac-reims.fr/casnav/enfants_nouv_arrives/aide_a_la_scolarisation/LGIDF/LGIDF.LA%20PERSONNE.02.03.17.pdf.</ref> Currently, there is no prevailing gender neutral clitic direct object personal pronoun; the most common ones are detailed below. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Clitic pronouns | |+Clitic pronouns | ||
!Subject | !Subject | ||
! Direct object | !Direct object | ||
!Indirect object | !Indirect object | ||
|- | |- | ||
|il | |il | ||
| le, (l') | |le, (l') | ||
|lui | |lui | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 141: | Line 137: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|<u>iel</u> | |<u>iel</u> | ||
|<u>lae</u> <small>[lae]</small><u>/lo/ | |<u>lae</u> <small>[lae]</small><u>/lo/li/lu/lia, (l')</u> | ||
|<u>lui</u> | |<u>lui</u> | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 156: | Line 152: | ||
|<u>leur</u> | |<u>leur</u> | ||
|} | |} | ||
Tonic pronouns are also called 'autonomous' because, in opposition to clitics, they form their own prosodic unit and can stand alone in the sentence, hence their distribution | Tonic pronouns are also called 'autonomous' because, in opposition to clitics, they form their own prosodic unit and can stand alone in the sentence, hence their distribution isn't as fixed as the clitics' one.<ref name=":8" /> There are currently two competing systems:<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /> one consists in syncretizing (cf. analogical levelling)<ref name=":9">Campbell, Lyle (1998): ''Historical Linguistics. An Introduction''. First ed. Cambridge/Massachusetts: The MIT Press.</ref> clitic and tonic pronouns, following the paradigm of standard French 'elle', which equates keeping the gender neutral subject pronoun — be it 'iel', 'ille', 'al' or 'ol', etc. — as such; the other approach, exemplified in the table below with 'iel', supports differentiating (cf. analogical extension)<ref name=":9" /> clitics from tonic pronouns, thereby aligning with the paradigm of 'il'. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Analogical extension | |+Analogical extension | ||
! | !clitic subject pronoun | ||
! | !tonic pronoun | ||
|- | |- | ||
|il | |il | ||
|lui | |lui | ||
|- | |- | ||
| elle | |elle | ||
|elle | |elle | ||
|- | |- | ||
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|<u>ellui</u> <small>[ɛllɥi]</small> | |<u>ellui</u> <small>[ɛllɥi]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| ils | |ils | ||
|eux | |eux | ||
|- | |- | ||
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|} | |} | ||
===Determiners=== | === Determiners === | ||
The | ==== Indefinite and definite article ==== | ||
The distinction between 'analytic gender neutral' ''versus'' 'synthetic gender neutral' is usually referred to as 'inclusif' ''versus'' 'neutre'.<ref name=":0" /> On the one hand, while there is no evidence from psycholinguistic studies suggesting that compounds — such as 'maon', from 'ma' and 'mon' — and portmanteau words like 'utilisateurice' cannot be cognitively interpreted as neutral, these forms could technically also be called that way. On the other hand, since gender neutral forms are inherently inclusive of all genders, there is no reason why they cannot be called that way either. The subsequent interchangeability of these terms makes them unsuitable for differentiating these two methods of creating gender neutral/gender inclusive French words. For this reason, the following table distinguishes them based on their morphological properties— blend words being more analytical and non blend words being more synthetic. | |||
The | The predominant neutral form between the analytic and the synthetic gender-neutral approach is denoted in italics in the table. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
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!Masculine | !Masculine | ||
!Feminine | !Feminine | ||
!Analytic gender | !Analytic gender neutral | ||
!Synthetic gender | !Synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Indefinite article | !Indefinite article | ||
|un <small>[<u>œ̃</u> | |un <small>[<u>œ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|une <small>[y<u>n</u>]</small> | |une <small>[y<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|eune <small>[<u>œn</u>]</small> | |eune <small>[<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
|''an'' <small>[ | |''an'' <small>[ã]/[an]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Definite article | !Definite article | ||
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|''lae'' <small>[lae]</small>, lea <small>[ləa]</small> | |''lae'' <small>[lae]</small>, lea <small>[ləa]</small> | ||
|''lo'', li, lu, lia | |''lo'', li, lu, lia | ||
|}'an' is quite common, particularly in the [ | |} | ||
Although 'an' is quite common, particularly in the [ã] pronunciation, it lacks any phonetic resemblance to 'une', while sharing a core feature with 'un': both consist solely of a nasal vowel. 'eune' [<u>œ</u>n], on the other hand, combines the vocal roundedness of 'un' [<u>œ̃</u>] with the terminal nasal consonant [n] of 'une'. Nonetheless, in metropolitan French, where 'un' is typically pronounced as [ɛ̃], 'eune' shares a phonetic characteristic exclusively with 'une'. | |||
Another drawback of 'an' pronounced as [ã], however, is its nasality, a factor known for making vowels challenging to distinguish and learn, even for native French speakers.<ref>Etienne Sicard, Anne Menin-Sicard, Gabriel Rousteau. Oppositions de voyelles orales et nasales : identification des formants selon le genre. INSA Toulouse. 2022. ffhal-03826558v2f.</ref> Consequently, [ã] might be perceived as a mispronunciation of 'un' or simply not distinct enough from 'un' to be recognized as a separate morpheme. | |||
====Possessive adjectives ==== | |||
==== Possessive adjectives ==== | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! | ! | ||
! Masculine | !Masculine | ||
!Feminine | !Feminine | ||
!Analytic gender | !Analytic gender neutral | ||
!Synthetic gender | !Synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!1SG | !1SG | ||
Line 226: | Line 219: | ||
|ma | |ma | ||
|''maon'' <small>[maõ]</small> | |''maon'' <small>[maõ]</small> | ||
|''man'' <small>[ | |''man'' <small>[mã]/[man]</small>, mi(ne) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!2SG | !2SG | ||
Line 232: | Line 225: | ||
|ta | |ta | ||
|''taon'' <small>[taõ]</small> | |''taon'' <small>[taõ]</small> | ||
|''tan'' <small>[ | |''tan'' <small>[tã]/[tan]</small>, ti(ne) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!3SG | !3SG | ||
|son | |son | ||
|sa | |sa | ||
|''saon'' <small>[saõ]</small> | |''saon'' <small>[saõ]</small> | ||
| | |san <small>[sã]/[san]</small>, sine <small>[sin]</small> | ||
|} | |} | ||
'mon', 'ton' and 'son', generally masculine, function as feminin possessive adjectives when combined with a feminin noun that begins (phonetically) with a vowel: 'mon amie', 'ton employée', 'son hôtesse', etc. Consequently, there is no necessity to use a possessive neoarticle in words starting with vowels, since, in this context, masculine and feminine gender are syncretized. | |||
In the [sã] pronunciation, 'san' is a homophone of 'sang', i. e. 'blood'. Alpheratz suggests 'mu(n)', 'tu(n)', 'su(n)'<ref name=":13" /> as synthetic form. However, 'tu(n)' is a homophone of the subject pronoun 'tu', and <nowiki><u> — i. e. [y] — is a linguistically marked phone</nowiki>.<ref>Rice, K. (2007). Markedness in phonology. In: ''The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology'', 79-98. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511486371.005.</ref><ref>Carvalho, Joaquim (Brandão de) (2023): “From binary features To elements: Implications for markedness theory and phonological acquisition”. In: ''Radical: A Journal of Phonology'' 3, 346-384. Here specifically: 352-353.</ref> Alternative forms could be 'mi(ne)', 'ti(ne)', 'sine', because only the roundness parameter (cf. [y] and [i] in the IPA) distinguishes them from the original neologisms with. 'sine' would be the only one having no optional '-ne' ending to avoid homophony with 'si' (i. e. 'if'). Similar sounding possessive adjectives can be found in Spanish ('mi'), in English ('my'), in Swedish ('min', 'din', 'sin', the last one being a gender neutral reflexive possessive pronoun),<ref>Duolingo Wiki: ''Swedish Skills. Possessives''. Online at:https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/Swedish_Skill:Possessives.</ref> in Norwegian,<ref>Norwegian University of Science and Technology (no data): ''8 Grammar. Possessives''. Online at: https://www.ntnu.edu/now/8/grammar.</ref> in Swiss-German,<ref>Klaudia Kolbe (2017): ''Schweizerdeutsch. Schlüssel zu den Übungen.'' Online at: https://silo.tips/download/schweizerdeutsch-schlssel-zu-den-bungen.</ref> and in other Germanic languages. Since 60% of of humans are multilingual,<ref>Sean McGibney (2023): ''What Percentage of the World’s Population is Bilingual? Introduction to Bilingualism: Exploring the Global Language Diversity''. Online at: https://www.newsdle.com/blog/world-population-bilingual-percentage.</ref> cross-linguistic influence could be used to facilitate the remembrance and adoption of neologisms.<ref>VAN DIJK C, VAN WONDEREN E, KOUTAMANIS E, KOOTSTRA GJ, DIJKSTRA T, UNSWORTH S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence in simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children: a meta-analysis. In: ''Journal of Child Language'' 5, :897-929. doi:10.1017/S0305000921000337.</ref><ref>van Dijk C, Dijkstra T, Unsworth S. Cross-linguistic influence during online sentence processing in bilingual children (2022): In: ''Bilingualism: Language and Cognition'' 4, 691-704. doi:10.1017/S1366728922000050.</ref> | |||
====Demonstrative adjective==== | ==== Demonstrative adjective ==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
!Masculine | !Masculine | ||
!Feminine | !Feminine | ||
!Analytic gender | !Analytic gender neutral | ||
!Synthetic gender | !Synthetic gender neutral | ||
!Plural | !Plural | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 258: | Line 251: | ||
|ces | |ces | ||
|} | |} | ||
La vie en Queer | La vie en Queer suggests 'cet', which's pronunciation is the same as that of the feminine form 'cette'; Divergenres retains 'cèx', mentioning that it unfortunately sounds like the word 'sexe'. A third possibility that has arisen from some nouns and adjectives (see below) consists in voicing — for instance [t] turns to [d] — or devoicing —[g] becomes [k], for example — the final feminin consonantal suffix of the word, so that the word remains easily recognizable while being distinct from the masculine and from the feminine. This approach would have the advantage of keeping the misunderstandings and the memorization at a minimum. | ||
===Non personal pronouns=== | === Non personal pronouns === | ||
====Possessive pronouns==== | ==== Possessive pronouns ==== | ||
The underlining of phonemes in the IPA transcription of certain words does not carry any phonetic meaning: it is used solely to highlight which phonetic elements from the masculine and feminine forms have been incorporated into the analytic gender neutral neologism. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! | ! | ||
!Masculine | !Masculine | ||
!Feminine | !Feminine | ||
!Analytic gender | !Analytic gender neutral | ||
!Synthetic gender | !Synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Singular | !Singular | ||
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|les ''miems'' | |les ''miems'' | ||
|} | |} | ||
There is currently no fixed definite article and possessive pronoun combination: in this table, 'lae' is simply associated with 'mienn' for morphological reasons: both words belong to the analytic gender neutral forms; the same goes for 'lo' and 'miem', that are both synthetic forms. | |||
====Demonstrative pronouns==== | ==== Demonstrative pronouns ==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! | ! | ||
! Masculine | !Masculine | ||
!Feminine | !Feminine | ||
!Analytic gender | !Analytic gender neutral | ||
!Synthetic gender | !Synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Singular | !Singular | ||
Line 306: | Line 300: | ||
|} | |} | ||
====Indefinite pronouns==== | ==== Indefinite pronouns ==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
Line 312: | Line 306: | ||
!Masculine | !Masculine | ||
!Feminine | !Feminine | ||
!Analytic gender | !Analytic gender neutral | ||
!Synthetic gender | !Synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!aucun·e | !aucun·e | ||
|aucun <small>[ok<u>œ̃ | |aucun <small>[ok<u>œ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|aucune <small>[oky<u>n</u>]</small> | |aucune <small>[oky<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|aucueune <small>[ok<u>œn</u>]</small> | |aucunn <small>[ok<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, aucueune <small>[ok<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
| | |aucan <small>[okã]/[okan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!chacun·e | !chacun·e | ||
|chacun <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃ | |chacun <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|chacune <small>[ʃaky<u>n</u>]</small> | |chacune <small>[ʃaky<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|chacueune <small>[ʃak<u>œn</u>]</small> | |chacunn <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, chacueune <small>[ʃak<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
| | |chacan <small>[ʃakã]/[ʃakan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!certain·e | !certain·e | ||
|certain <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | |certain <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|certaine <small>[sɛʁtɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | |certaine <small>[sɛʁtɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |certainn <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |certan <small>[sɛʁtã]/[sɛʁtan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!tout·e | !tout·e | ||
Line 346: | Line 340: | ||
|- | |- | ||
!quelqu'un·e | !quelqu'un·e | ||
|quelqu'un <small>[kɛlk<u>œ̃ | |quelqu'un <small>[kɛlk<u>œ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|quelqu'une <small>[kɛlky<u>n</u>]</small> | |quelqu'une <small>[kɛlky<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|quelqu' | |quelqu'unn <small>[kɛlk<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, quelqu'eune <small>[kɛlk<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
| | |||
|} | |} | ||
'quelqu'une' is extremely rare in modern French, so that it is not clear how necessary the degendering of this indefinite pronoun is. | |||
===Nouns and adjectives === | === Nouns and adjectives === | ||
Words such as 'professionnel' and 'professionnelle', which are orally epicene and, thus, indistinguishable in speech, are not included; the use of their shortened doublet form enables inclusivity and gender | Words such as 'professionnel' and 'professionnelle', which are orally epicene and, thus, indistinguishable in speech, are not included; the use of their shortened doublet form enables inclusivity and gender neutrality in written language. | ||
==== Endings from Latin '-or' and '-rix'==== | ==== Endings from Latin '-or' and '-rix' ==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Endings from Latin '-or' and '-rix' | |+Endings from Latin '-or' and '-rix' | ||
! | ! | ||
! | !masculine | ||
! | !feminine | ||
! | !analytic gender neutral | ||
! | !synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-eur/-euse | !-eur/-euse | ||
Line 379: | Line 373: | ||
!-eur/-_resse<sup>1</sup> | !-eur/-_resse<sup>1</sup> | ||
|docteur | |docteur | ||
|doct<u>o</u>resse<ref>Doctoresse Joséphine Tornay. Online at: https://cm-latour.ch/team/josephine-tornay-medecine-interne-generale/ | |doct<u>o</u>resse<ref>Doctoresse Joséphine Tornay. Online at: https://cm-latour.ch/team/josephine-tornay-medecine-interne-generale/. Very common Swiss French denomination for female doctors.</ref> | ||
|''docteuresse'' | |''docteuresse'' | ||
|doctaire | |doctaire | ||
Line 385: | Line 379: | ||
!-eur/-_resse<sup>2</sup> | !-eur/-_resse<sup>2</sup> | ||
|enchanteur | |enchanteur | ||
| enchant<u>e</u>resse | |enchant<u>e</u>resse | ||
|''enchanteuresse'' | |''enchanteuresse'' | ||
|enchantaire | |enchantaire | ||
Line 392: | Line 386: | ||
|maître | |maître | ||
|maîtresse | |maîtresse | ||
|maîtré/maîtrè (or maîtræ) | |''maîtré''/maîtrè (or maîtræ) | ||
|maîtrexe | |maîtrexe | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 398: | Line 392: | ||
|connard | |connard | ||
|connasse | |connasse | ||
| | | | ||
|connarde | |connarde | ||
|} | |} | ||
The analytic gender | The analytic gender neutral forms that originate from Latin '-or' and '-rix' are currently in use,<ref name=":14">Viennot, Eliane (2023): Pour un langage non sexiste ! Acteurice, visiteureuse... Des néologismes de plus en plus employés. Online at: https://www.elianeviennot.fr/Langue-mots.html.</ref> even though they haven't been added to any French dictionary yet. Some podcasts where you can hear them are ''Les Couilles sur la table'', ''Parler comme jamais'' and ''Papatriarcat''. Apart from the italic denoted forms, most of the words depicted in the table are not in use. The table thus merely represents suggestions that have been made for neutralizing French, and features the items that have been retained by most blogs, researchers and LGBT communities in the French-speaking world. | ||
Synthetic gender | Synthetic gender neutral forms have the advantage of conserving the original syllable number of the word, resulting in them not sounding as lengthy as the analytic ones. In addition, the '-aire' suffix does exist in contemporary French and produces epicene nouns, such as 'un·e destinataire', 'un·e secrétaire', 'un·e volontaire', 'un·e bibliothécaire', etc. However, several psycholinguistic studies conducted in French<ref>Brauer, M., and Landry, M. (2008): Un ministre peut-il tomber enceinte? L'impact du générique masculin sur les représentations mentales. In: ''L'Année Psychol''. 108, 243-272. DOI: 10.4074/S0003503308002030.</ref><ref>Xiao, H., Strickland, B., and Peperkamp, S. (2023): How fair is gender-fair language? Insights from gender ratio estimations in French. In: ''J. Lang. Soc. Psychol''. 42, 82-106. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X221084643.</ref> and in German<ref>Stahlberg, D., Sczesny, S., and Braun, F. (2001): Name your favorite musician: effects of masculine generics and of their alternatives in German. In: ''J. Lang. Soc. Psychol''. 20, 464-469. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X01020004004.</ref> have found that "gender-unmarked forms are not fully effective in neutralizing the masculine bias"<ref name=":15">Spinelli, Elsa/Chevrot, Jean-Pierre/Varnet, Léo (2023): Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies. In: ''Front. Psychol.'' 14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1256779.</ref> and that "contracted double forms [such as acteur·ice] are more effective in promoting gender balance compared to gender-unmarked forms."<ref name=":15" /> Regarding this issue, analytic gender neutral forms could then be a more effective solution than synthetic ones. | ||
====Endings with '-x' in the masculine==== | ==== Endings with '-x' in the masculine ==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Endings from latin '-ōsus'<ref>CNRTL (2012): ''-EUX, élément formant''. Online at: https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/-eux | |+Endings from latin '-ōsus'<ref>CNRTL (2012): ''-EUX, élément formant''. Online at: https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/-eux.</ref> | ||
! | ! | ||
! | !masculine | ||
! | !feminine | ||
! | !analytic gender neutral | ||
! | !synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
! -eux/-euse | !-eux/-euse | ||
|amoureux | |amoureux | ||
|amoureuse | |amoureuse | ||
| | | | ||
|amoureuxe [amuʁøks] | |amoureuxe [amuʁøks] | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-eux/-esse | !-eux/-esse | ||
Line 430: | Line 423: | ||
|+Endings with '-x' (♂︎) and '-[s]' (♀︎) | |+Endings with '-x' (♂︎) and '-[s]' (♀︎) | ||
! | ! | ||
! | !masculine | ||
! | !feminine | ||
! | !analytic gender neutral | ||
! | !synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-x/-sse | !-x/-sse | ||
Line 447: | Line 440: | ||
|douxe | |douxe | ||
|} | |} | ||
The synthetic gender | The synthetic gender neutral forms where the silent consonant of the masculine form gets pronounced allows for the conserving of the same number of syllable. They having an audible suffix, as the feminine forms do, without that suffix being the feminine one situates them between a feminine and a masculine word. In addition, the fact that the consonant present in the suffix of gender neutral form is the same as the one in the masculine ones could relieve memorization issues in alphabetized French speaking people. In cases however where the masculine doesn't display a silent <x> and the feminine has a characteristic suffix, such as 'dieu, déesse', adopting the analytic approach might be more coherent (cf. previous paragraph). | ||
====Endings with nasal vowels in the masculine form==== | ==== Endings with nasal vowels in the masculine form ==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ Endings with nasal vowels in the masculine form | |+Endings with nasal vowels in the masculine form | ||
|- | |- | ||
! | ! | ||
! | !masculine | ||
! | !feminine | ||
! | !analytic gender neutral | ||
! | !synthetic gender neutral | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-ain/-aine | !-ain/-aine | ||
| écrivain <small>[ | |écrivain <small>[ekʁiv<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|écrivaine <small>[ | |écrivaine <small>[ekʁivɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |écrivainn <small>[ekʁiv<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
|''écrivan'' | |||
|- | |- | ||
!-ain/-ine | !-ain/-ine | ||
|copain <small>[kɔp<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | |copain <small>[kɔp<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|copine <small>[kɔpi<u>n</u>]</small> | |copine <small>[kɔpi<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|''cop<u>aine</u>'' <small>[kɔpɛn]</small> | |copainn <small>[kɔp<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small>, ''cop<u>aine</u>'' <small>[kɔpɛn]</small> | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-in/-ine | !-in/-ine | ||
|cousin <small>[kuz<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | |cousin <small>[kuz<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|cousine <small>[kuzi<u>n</u>]</small> | |cousine <small>[kuzi<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |cousinn <small>[kuz<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |''cousaine'' <small>[kuzɛn]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-an/-anne | !-an/-anne | ||
|paysan <small>[pɛiz<u> | |paysan <small>[pɛiz<u>ã</u>]</small> | ||
|paysanne <small>[pɛiza<u>n</u>]</small> | |paysanne <small>[pɛiza<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |paysann <small>[pɛiz<u>ãn</u>]</small> | ||
|paysaine <small>[pɛizɛn]</small> | |''paysaine'' <small>[pɛizɛn]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-ien/-ienne | !-ien/-ienne | ||
|citoyen <small>[sitwaj<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | |citoyen <small>[sitwaj<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|citoyenne <small>[sitwajɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | |citoyenne <small>[sitwajɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |citoyenn <small>[sitwaj<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
|''citoyan'' | |||
|- | |- | ||
!-un/-une<sup>1</sup> | !-un/-une<sup>1</sup> | ||
|brun <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃ | |brun <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|brune <small>[bʁy<u>n</u>]</small> | |brune <small>[bʁy<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |brunn <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
|braine, ''bran'' | |braine, ''bran'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-un/-une<sup>2</sup> | !-un/-une<sup>2</sup> | ||
|opportun <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>œ̃ | |opportun <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>œ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|opportune <small>[ɔpɔʁty<u>n</u>]</small> | |opportune <small>[ɔpɔʁty<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |opportunn <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>œ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |opportaine | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-on/-onne | !-on/-onne | ||
|mignon <small>[miɲ<u>õ</u>]</small> | |mignon <small>[miɲ<u>õ</u>]</small> | ||
|mignonne <small>[miɲɔ<u>n</u>]</small> | |mignonne <small>[miɲɔ<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |mignonne <small>[miɲ<u>õn]</u></small> | ||
|''mignan'' | |||
|} | |} | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
! | ! | ||
! | ! colspan="4" |Endings with silent (♂︎) and audible consonant (♀︎) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-t/-te | !-t/-te | ||
Line 524: | Line 511: | ||
|pâlode, pâlat, pâlasse | |pâlode, pâlat, pâlasse | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-d/-de | !-d/-de | ||
|grand | |grand | ||
|grande | |grande | ||
Line 534: | Line 521: | ||
|inquiète | |inquiète | ||
| | | | ||
| inquiède | |inquiède | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-g/gue | !-g/gue | ||
Line 542: | Line 529: | ||
|oblonk | |oblonk | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-er/-ière | !-er/-ière | ||
|premier <small>[pʁəmj<u>e</u>]</small> | |premier <small>[pʁəmj<u>e</u>]</small> | ||
|première <small>[pʁəmjɛ<u>ʁ</u>]</small> | |première <small>[pʁəmjɛ<u>ʁ</u>]</small> | ||
Line 571: | Line 558: | ||
|babasse | |babasse | ||
|base | |base | ||
| | |- | ||
! | ! | ||
! | ! colspan="4" |Endings with a rounded vowel (♂︎) and '-_(l)le' (♀︎) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-eau/-elle | !-eau/-elle | ||
Line 587: | Line 566: | ||
|jumelle | |jumelle | ||
|''jumelleau'', jumeaulle | |''jumelleau'', jumeaulle | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-ou/-olle | !-ou/-olle | ||
Line 606: | Line 585: | ||
|vieilleux, vieuille | |vieilleux, vieuille | ||
| | | | ||
| | |- | ||
! | ! | ||
! | ! colspan="4" |Endings with consonant <math>x</math> (♂︎) and consonant <math>x</math> with phonetic change triggered by presence of final "-e" (♀︎) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!-c/-che | !-c/-che | ||
|sec | |sec | ||
|sèche | |sèche | ||
| seckèche | |seckèche | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 627: | Line 598: | ||
|naïf | |naïf | ||
|naïve | |naïve | ||
|naïfive | |naïfive | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
! | |||
! colspan="4" |Some examples of gender neutral nouns from irregular substantives | |||
|- | |||
!👑 | |||
|roi | |roi | ||
|reine | |reine | ||
Line 645: | Line 610: | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
!🦸🏽♂️ | |||
|héros | |héros | ||
|héroïne | |héroïne | ||
|héroïnos | |héroïnos | ||
|héroan <small>[ | |héroan <small>[eʁoã]/[eʁoan]</small>, héroal | ||
|- | |- | ||
!👨👨👧👦 | |||
|frère | |frère | ||
|sœur | |sœur | ||
Line 655: | Line 622: | ||
|''adelphe'' | |''adelphe'' | ||
|- | |- | ||
!👱🏿 | |||
|Monsieur | |Monsieur | ||
|Madame | |Madame | ||
Line 661: | Line 629: | ||
|} | |} | ||
== Discussion == | |||
How new words enter the usage | |||
==Discussion== | |||
==References == | ==References== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category:Gender neutral language]] | [[Category:Gender neutral language]] |