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English neutral pronouns: Difference between revisions
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====Yo==== | ====Yo==== | ||
'''Yo''' (nominative form only). In addition to an interjection and greeting, "yo" is a gender-neutral pronoun in a dialect of African-American Vernacular English spoken by middle school students in Baltimore, Maryland, the student body of which is 97% African-American. These students had spontaneously created the pronoun as early as 2004 and commonly used it. A study by Stotko and Troyer in 2007 examined this pronoun. The speakers used "yo" only for same-age peers, not adults or authorities. They thought of it as a slang word that was informal, but they also thought | '''Yo''' (nominative form only). In addition to an interjection and greeting, "yo" is a gender-neutral pronoun in a dialect of African-American Vernacular English spoken by middle school students in Baltimore, Maryland, the student body of which is 97% African-American. These students had spontaneously created the pronoun as early as 2004 and commonly used it. A study by Stotko and Troyer in 2007 examined this pronoun. The speakers used "yo" only for same-age peers, not adults or authorities. They thought of it as a slang word that was informal, but they also thought of it as just as acceptable as "he" or "she". "Yo" was used for people whose gender was unknown, as well as for specific people whose gender was known, often while using a pointing gesture at the person in question. The researchers collected examples of the word in use, such as "yo threw a thumbtack at me," "you acting like I said what yo said," and "she ain't really go with yo." The researchers only collected examples of "yo" used in the nominative form. That is, they found no possessive forms such as "yo's," and no reflexive forms such as "yoself." As such, "yo" pronouns might be used only in nominative form, similar to another native English gender-neutral pronoun, "[[English neutral pronouns#A|a]]." Either that, or these forms exist, and the researchers just didn't collect them.<ref>Rebecca Hersher, "'Yo' said what?" April 24, 2013. ''NPR: Code Switch''. [http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/04/25/178788893/yo-said-what] [https://web.archive.org/web/20221206111736/http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/04/25/178788893/yo-said-what Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref>Elizabeth J. Elrod, "Give us a gender neutral pronoun, yo!: The need for and creation of a gender neutral, singular, third person, personal pronoun." ''Undergraduate Honors Theses'' paper 200. 2014. http://dc.etsu.edu/honors/200 or http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1203&context=honors (PDF)</ref> | ||
===Neopronouns=== | ===Neopronouns=== | ||
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* '''Reflexive:''' Each child feeds ''himself or herself''. | * '''Reflexive:''' Each child feeds ''himself or herself''. | ||
=== | === Hu === | ||
'''Hu, hum, hus, humself''' (or hu, hum, hus, '''huself'''). These singular neutral pronouns were originally coined by Sasha Newborn in 1982. She called the neologisms Humanist as they are [[nounself pronouns]] based on the word (noun) <u>hu</u>man, which is also how they're pronounced. While this pronoun set has not been widely used, a variation (hu, hu) did gain some attention in the 2024 US presidential election, where one candidate offered hu/hu as a pronoun option in a campaign form.<ref>Valerie Richardson, "[https://highergroundtimes.com/higher-ground/2024/aug/15/kamala-harris-presidential-campaign-presses-job-ap/ Hu/hu? Harris for President campaign presses job applicants to pick zir pronouns]", Aug 15, 2024. Higher Ground Times.</ref> | |||
'''Use by nonbinary people:''' A variation where ''hum'' is pronounced like the existing word hum, rather than like hew, has gained some traction. | |||
'''Forms:''' | |||
* '''Nominative:''' ''Hu'' loves hiking and climbing. | |||
* '''Accusative:''' I have no idea what they said to ''hum''. | |||
* '''Pronominal possessive:''' It's hard to believe someone stole ''hus'' car. | |||
* '''Predicative possessive:''' It's easy to believe the car is ''hus''. | |||
* '''Reflexive:''' Each of us needs to consider this ''humself''. | |||
'''On Fandom:''' https://pronoun.fandom.com/wiki/Humanself | |||
'''On Pronouns:''' https://en.pronouns.page/hu | |||
'''On Pronouns List:''' https://pronounslist.com/hum-hum | |||
'''On Universal English:''' https://universalenglish.org/gender-neutral-english-pronouns/ | |||
=== It === | |||
'''it, it, its, its, itself'''. This standard English set of genderless pronouns is used for inanimate objects, animals, and human infants. During Dickens’ time, these were also acceptable pronouns for older human children and spirits of the dead, as these permutations of humanity were seen as not really male or female. This pronoun is not male or female. Using it for an adult human is often seen as an insult, dehumanizing. While considered offensive by most, some nonbinary people use "it" as a means of reclamation and to challenge the idea that genderlessness is inherently dehumanizing. | '''it, it, its, its, itself'''. This standard English set of genderless pronouns is used for inanimate objects, animals, and human infants. During Dickens’ time, these were also acceptable pronouns for older human children and spirits of the dead, as these permutations of humanity were seen as not really male or female. This pronoun is not male or female. Using it for an adult human is often seen as an insult, dehumanizing. While considered offensive by most, some nonbinary people use "it" as a means of reclamation and to challenge the idea that genderlessness is inherently dehumanizing. | ||