Gender neutral language in German

See also: Glossary of German gender and sex terminology

See also: Pronouns#German neutral pronouns

Gender neutral language

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Gender neutral language in German is more difficult than gender neutral language (also called gender inclusive language) in some languages, because German's grammatical gender is pervasive. See the main article on gender neutral language for general reasons to use neutral language, common problems in using it, and its use for nonbinary people.

Nouns, Adjectives etc.

See also: Geschlechtsneutrale Sprache at Nichtbinär-Wiki

Asterisk, Underscore, Punctuation

Pronounced as a pause or glottal stop. In between "feminine" and "masculine" ending, the most common version:

• mein_e beste*r Freund:in

Either after the stem - or more realistically at the next best place that has nothing to do with feminine/masculine forms but makes sense for pronunciation:

• mei:ne bes_ter Freun*din

At random places:

• mei*ne best:er Freundi_n

Can be used consistently or mixed up like in the example above.

X

Pronounced like iks.

• meinx bestx Freundx

(or e.g. Befreunx to avoid basing it on the masculine form) Or write it as -iks.

• meiniks bestiks Freundiks

-ir, -on and -chen Forms.

• Chirurgon
• Doktoron
• Freundir
• Partchen
• Partnir
• Witwon

Shortened Words and Nonsense Forms

Fairly well known -i words:

• der_die Studi, dix Touri

New words by the same pattern:

• dier Mitbewohni, der*die Kollegi

Use the short -i forms or make up new endings and treat the word as neutrum.

• mein bestes Freundi
• mein liebes Mitbewohnsi

Use -mensch, -menschi, -person:

• das Postmenschi
• meine Liebhabperson
• der liebe Katzenbetreu-Mensch

Or just random words that you think are cute.

• Ich will Fotografierflausch werden.

Pronouns

See main article at German neutral pronouns.

Personal pronouns: dominant usage?

Paradigm	'dey/dej'	'sier' Version 2.1		'xier' Version 3.3		'hän'	NoNa-System		g-Genus		De-e-System
prosodical features		unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed		unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed
Nominative	dey/dej	sier [zi:ɐ̯]	dier [di:ɐ̯]	xier	dier	hän	hen	dai	hen	dio	en	de [de(:)]
Accusative	dey/dej; dem(m) [dɛm]	sien	dien	xien	dien	sin	hen	dai	hen	dio	en	de [de(:)]
Dative	denen; demm	siem	diem	xiem	diem	sim	hem	dam	hem	dero	em	derm
Genitive	derer	sieser	-	xieser	-	sirer	henser	-	-	-	enser	-
						'hen' paradigms

dey

The German translation of Starfield vom Bethesda Games Studios uses 'dey'/'demm' pronouns to refer to nonbinary protagonists. Some German speaking influencers use them as their pronouns (cf. @kai.isaiah_jamal) and so do other numerous Instagram users (i. e. search for the key words 'dey/dem' in the Instagram search engine). As for series, Star Treck Discovery uses 'dey' pronouns for their nonbinary/genderless characters.

sier

Ravna Marin Siever, author of the book Was wird es denn? Ein Kind! Wie geschlechtsoffene Erziehung gelingt, uses pronouns from the sier-paradigm for people to refer to them. Boyfriend dungeon uses 'xier' as nonbinary pronoun in their German version.

Some examples of books that use the 'sier' pronoun (for an exhaustive list, see Xier Pronomen in Texten, Serien, Filmen und Video Games from Illi Anna Heger):

• Ein göttliches Paar from Amalia Zeichnerin;
• Code X – Das Erwachen der Cybertechs from Lucinda Flynn;
• Das Orakel in der Fremde – Die Chroniken von Beskadur 2 from James A. Sullivan;
• Bus 57 – Eine wahre Geschichte from Dashka Slater;
• Mädchen, Frau, etc. from Bernardine Evaristo;
• Gänseblümchen. Eine sehr queere Geschichte from Elias Finley;
• Die Götter müssen sterben from Nora Bendzko.

xier

In the second episode (1:02) of the series City of Ghosts, i. e. Stadt der Geister in German, Thomas states that their pronoun is 'xier'. The blogger Frau Papa Nina tells in an interview from the podcast Das gewünschteste Wunschkind — hosted by Danielle Graf and Katja Seide — that they use the pronoun 'xier' for themselves.

Books that use the 'xier' pronoun:

• Gründämmerung from Alice Hagenbruch;
• Camp — Queerfeldein führt auch ein Weg from L. C. Rosen;
• Look from Luka Holmegaard;
• Laylayland from Judith and Christian Vogt;
• Blind and Blau from Annette Juretzki;
• Ace in Space from Judith Vogt, Christian Vogt and Stephan Urbach;
• Humbug über Xenosol from Tino Falke;
• Dies ist mein letztes Lied from Lena Richter;
• Auf einem Sonnenstrahl from Tillie Walden

Some examples of series that use 'xier' pronouns in the German version (for an exhaustive list, see Xier Pronomen in Texten, Serien, Filmen und Video Games from Illi Anna Heger):

• Transparent from Joey Soloway;
• One Day at a Time from Gloria Calderón Kellett and Mike Royce.

Some examples of video games that use 'xier' pronouns in the German version (for an exhaustive list, see Xier Pronomen in Texten, Serien, Filmen und Video Games from Illi Anna Heger):

• Harmony: the fall of reverie;
• Dead Space;
• Wylde Flowers;
• Rainbow Six Siege.

hen

In the German version from Kivi & Monsterhund from Jesper Lundqvist and Bettina Johansson, the protagonist Kivi, who is referred to with the Swedish gender neutral pronoun 'hen', is referred to with the same pronoun in the German translation from Jochen Barthel. 'hen' also seems to be used by some bloggers and to be currently perceived as popular.

en

An important number of the members of the Verein für Geschlechtsneutrales Deutsch, that is currently growing, uses the en/em forms from the De-e-System as their pronouns.

For a complete list of all existent neopronouns, see https://nibi.space/pronomen#pronomen or https://de.pronouns.page/pronomen.

Personal pronouns: peripheral usage?

Paradigm	SYLVAIN-Konventionen		'sir' [zi:ɐ̯]		'hen'2	'el'	'ey'
prosodical features	unstressed	stressed	unstressed	stressed
Nominative	nin	din	sir	dier	hen	el	ey
Accusative	nin	din	sihn	dien	han	en	emm
Dative	nim	dim	ihrm	derm	ham	em	emm
Genitive	nimser	-	sihrer	-	-	emser	eyser

(almost) Indeclinable personal pronouns

Paradigm	'ens'	'en'	'iks'
Nominative	ens	en	iks
Accusative	ens	en	iks
Dative	ens	en	iks
Genitive	enser	enser	ikser

Titles

Instead of Frau/Herr

• Frann - nonstandard
• Ind. von "Individuum", nonstandard
• Mau - nonstandard
• Per - nonstandard
• "Vorname, Nachname" - In vielen Fällen kann und sollte man anstelle eines Ehrentitels der Vor- und Nachname verwenden, z.B. "Kim Müller" statt "Frau/Herr Müller".

Professional & Academic Titles

• Doctorx - nonstandard
• Professorx - nonstandard
• Professx, abgekürzt Prof. oder Profx. - nonstandard

Family terms

See also: Nichtbinäre Wörter at Nichtbinär-Wiki

Parent

• Elter - German word for parent, will sound awkward but be recognised
• Elta - nonstandard
• Mapa - nonstandard
• Pama - nonstandard
• Wawa - nonstandard

Child

• Enbie, Enby - instead of Mädchen/Junge/Bub, nonstandard
• Großes - standard
• Kind - standard
• Kleines - standard

Aunt/Uncle

• Eltergeschwister - nonstandard
• Eltschwister - nonstandard
• Onte - nonstandard
• Pibling - nonstandard
• Tankel - nonstandard
• Tonke - nonstandard

Niece/Nephew

• Nibling - nonstandard
• Niffe - nonstandard
• Geschwisterkind - nonstandard
• Schwisterkind - nonstandard
• Seitkind - nonstandard

Cousin

• Batter
• Cousibling
• Cousinir
• Couson
• Seitschwister

Grandparent

• Großelter - nonstandard, will sound awkward but be understood
• Ohlta - nonstandard
• Opma - nonstandard
• Owa - nonstandard

Sibling

• Bruderin, Bruder*in - nonstandard
• Brüderin, Brüder*in - nonstandard
• Geschwister - standard, but not commonly used
• Geschwisterchen - standard, but old fashioned and usually used for very young siblings
• Große/Ältere Geschwister - big/older sibling
• Kleine/Jüngere Geschwister - little/younger sibling

Partner

• Brautpartnir - nonstandard
• Brautpartchen - nonstandard
• Eheperson
• Ehepartei
• Eheteil
• Eheherzmensch - married to the heart person
• Eheperson
• Eheherzperson
• Freund - nonstandard
• Freundir - nonstandard
• Freund*in
• Gattir - nonstandard, oldfashion, from Gattin/Gatte
• Gema - nonstandard, oldfashion, from Gemahlin/Gemahl
• Gespons - oldfashion
• Heiratir - nonstandard
• Herzmensch - literally heart person, used as a term of endearment
• Liebschaft
• Paarteil
• Partchen - nonstandard
• Partner*in
• Partnir - nonstandard
• Verlobtir - nonstandard

In-law

• Schwageron - nonstandard, sibling-in-law
• Schwiegerelter - nonstandard, parent-in-law
• Schwiegergeschwister - nonstandard, sibling-in-law
• Schwiegerkind - nonstandard, child-in-law
• Schwiegerperson - in-law person
• Schwiegschwister - nonstandard, sibling-in-law
• Schwägir - nonstandard, sibling-in-law

Other

• Begleitir - nonstandard neutral word for one's company/companion

• Brautentourage - nonstandard neutral word for wedding entourage
• Erwachsene Person - neutral word for adult
• Hauspartnir/Hauspartchen - nonstandard neutral word for housespouse

• Hauselter - nonstandard neutral word for houseparent
• Jugenlicher/Jungere Person - neutral word for youth/young person
• Köni - nonstandard neutral alternative to queen (königin) and king (könig)
• Könilich - nonstandard neutral alternative to royal (königlich)
• Leut - nonstandard singular version of leute
• Leute - standard word for people
• Prin/Kronprin - nonstandard alternatives for princess/prince and crownprincess/crownprince
• Thronfolger - neutral word for crownprincess/crownprince
• Regent/Monarch - standard neutral alternatives to queen and king
• Reich - neutral alternative to kingdom (königreich)
• Trauzeugir - nonstandard neutral alternative to trauzeugin/brautjungfern and trauzeuge(n)
• Verehrte Publikum/Gäste/Leute - neutral alternative to "ladies and gentlemen"

• Verheirateten - neutral alternative to married couple
• Älterer person - neutral alternative to old woman and old man

See also

• Gender neutral language
• Glossary of German gender and sex terminology
• German neutral pronouns

Main resources

1. Nichtbinär-Wiki (2024): Geschlechtsneutrale Sprache. Online at: https://nibi.space/geschlechtsneutrale_sprache.
2. Pronouns.page (2024): Liste bekannter Pronomen. Neopronomen. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/pronomen.
3. Pronouns.page (2024): Wörterbuch für geschlechtsneutrale Sprache. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/substantive.
4. Illi Anna Heger (2022): Pronomen wie sier und xier. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/pronomen/.
5. Verein für geschlechtsneutrales Deutsch e. V. (2024): De-e-System. Online at: https://geschlechtsneutral.net/gesamtsystem/.