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{{Gender neutral language}}
{{Gender neutral language}}
The French language has two gramatical genders: feminine and masculine. Activists have started seeking solutions to degender the language as much as possible and, therefore, make it more inclusive. These solutions entail neologisms as well as non-neologisms.  
The French language has two grammatical genders: feminine and masculine. Activists have started seeking solutions to degender the language as much as possible and, therefore, make it more inclusive. These solutions entail neologisms as well as non-neologisms.


==Non-neologisms==
==Non-neologisms==
===Refeminization ===
===Refeminization ===
Prior to the 17th century, French, like Italian, Spanish, and other Romance languages, utilized feminine inflections to distinguish female and male professionals. However, for a range of reasons — both societal, such as misogyny,<ref name=":1">Becquelin, H. (no data): ''Langage en tout genre. Argument historique''. Article on non discriminating language. University of Neuchâtel. Online at: https://www.unine.ch/epicene/home/pourquoi/argument-historique.html (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref><ref name=":12">Viennot, E. (2023): ''Pour un langage non sexiste ! Les accords égalitaires en français''. Online at: https://www.elianeviennot.fr/Langue-accords.html (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> and linguistic<ref name=":2">Moreau, M.-L. (2019): L’accord de proximité dans l’écriture inclusive. Peut-on utiliser n’importe quel argument ? In: Dister, A./ Piron, S. (eds.): ''Les discours de référence sur la langue française (Presses de l’Université Saint-Louis)'', 351–378. 10.4000/books.pusl.26517.</ref>, as French was being standardized and dialect speakers were expected to learn French — grammarians ensured that these feminine designations were effectively removed from the language.<ref name=":1" />
Prior to the 17th century, French, like Italian, Spanish, and other Romance languages, utilized feminine [[wikipedia:Inflection|inflections]] to distinguish female and male professionals. However, for a range of reasons (both societal — such as misogyny<ref name=":1">Becquelin, H. (no data): ''Langage en tout genre. Argument historique''. Article on non discriminating language. University of Neuchâtel. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20231213005251/https://www.unine.ch/epicene/home/pourquoi/argument-historique.html (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref><ref name=":12">Viennot, E. (2023): ''Pour un langage non sexiste ! Les accords égalitaires en français''. Online at: https://www.elianeviennot.fr/Langue-accords.html (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> — and linguistic<ref name=":2">Moreau, M.-L. (2019): L’accord de proximité dans l’écriture inclusive. Peut-on utiliser n’importe quel argument ? In: Dister, A./ Piron, S. (eds.): ''Les discours de référence sur la langue française (Presses de l’Université Saint-Louis)'', 351–378. 10.4000/books.pusl.26517.</ref>, as French was being standardized and dialect speakers were expected to learn standard French) grammarians ensured that these feminine designations were effectively removed from the language.<ref name=":1" />


Today, many people refer to the contemporary introduction of feminine designations as 'feminization,' believing that these occupational titles are newly coined terms. However, this is not the case, as they are being revived from an earlier iteration of the French language, making '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 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> a more accurate term.
Today, many people refer to the contemporary introduction of feminine designations as [https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/23983/banque-de-depannage-linguistique/la-redaction-et-la-communication/feminisation-et-redaction-epicene/synthese-sur-la-feminisation-lexicale-et-la-redaction-epicene ''féminisation''] ('feminization'), believing that these occupational titles are newly coined terms. However, this is not the case, as they are being revived from an earlier iteration of the French language, making ''reféminisation''<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 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> ('refeminization') a more accurate term.


Even though it seems paradoxical, refeminization is part of a movement to degender the French language, as studies in various languages have demonstrated that the generic masculine, despite being considered gender-neutral by French prescriptive grammar ("Selon Le Bon Usage de Maurice Grevisse, l'adjectif se met donc au 'genre indifférencié, c'est-à-dire au masculin'."),<ref name=":3">Alchimy (2017): ''« Le masculin l’emporte sur le féminin » : Bien plus qu’une règle de grammaire''. In: ''Usbek&Rica.''</ref> is not actually cognitively neutral.<ref>Tibblin, J./Van De Weijer, J./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. In: ''J. Fr. Lang. Stud.'' ''33'', 28–51. 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]. In: ''Verhaltenstherapie & Psychosoziale Praxis 35''(2), 285–291.</ref> By incorporating the feminine form of a word, speakers acknowledge the presence of individuals of more genders than just one.
Refeminization contributes to degendering French, as studies in various languages have demonstrated that [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generisches_Maskulinum generic masculine], despite being considered gender-neutral by French prescriptive grammar ("Selon Le Bon Usage de Maurice Grevisse, l'adjectif se met donc au 'genre indifférencié, c'est-à-dire au masculin'."),<ref name=":3">Alchimy (2017): ''« Le masculin l’emporte sur le féminin » : Bien plus qu’une règle de grammaire''. In: ''Usbek&Rica.''</ref> is not actually cognitively neutral.<ref>Tibblin, J./Van De Weijer, J./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. In: ''J. Fr. Lang. Stud.'' ''33'', 28–51. 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]. In: ''Verhaltenstherapie & Psychosoziale Praxis 35''(2), 285–291.</ref> By incorporating the feminine form of a word, speakers acknowledge the presence of individuals of more genders than just one,<ref>Schütze, Christin (2020): ''Comprehension of Gender-neutral forms and the pseudo-generic masculine in German: a visual world eye-tracking study – ‘It goes without saying’ that everyone is included?''. Master thesis. University of Potsdam. Available at: https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/48415/file/schuetze_diss.pdf (accessed 2 March 2026).</ref> and the interchangeability of the masculine versus feminine terms as a result of the growing similarity in their [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(Sprachwissenschaft) distributions] contribute to decoupling [[wikipedia:Sex|biological sex]], [https://eige.europa.eu/publications-resources/thesaurus/terms/1335 social gender/gender position] or [[wikipedia:Gender_identity|gender identity]] (cf. [[wikipedia:Sex_assignment|sex assignment]]) from the specific contexts they tend to be associated with.


{| class="wikitable"
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===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 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> others consider that the doublets don't encompass all genders,<ref name=":4">Ménard, J.-S. (2021): ''Pour un français neutre et une inclusion des personnes non binaires : une entrevue avec Florence Ashley''. Longueuil: Cégep Édouard-Montpetit. Online at:https://www.cegepmontpetit.ca/static/uploaded/Files/Cegep/Centre%20de%20reference/Le%20francais%20saffiche/Une-entrevue-avec-Florence-Ashley.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</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, G./Boschard, Μ./Cornet, G./Croci, M./Stegmann, N. (2021): ''Les outils - la (re)féminisation. Langage inclusif''. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20231225213750/https://tube.switch.ch/videos/0xwYktNzRp, 00:50 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref>
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 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> others consider that the doublets don't encompass all genders,<ref name=":4">Ménard, J.-S. (2021): ''Pour un français neutre et une inclusion des personnes non binaires : une entrevue avec Florence Ashley''. Longueuil: Cégep Édouard-Montpetit. Online at:https://web.archive.org/web/20231201073105/https://www.cegepmontpetit.ca/static/uploaded/Files/Cegep/Centre%20de%20reference/Le%20francais%20saffiche/Une-entrevue-avec-Florence-Ashley.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</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, G./Boschard, Μ./Cornet, G./Croci, M./Stegmann, N. (2021): ''Les outils - la (re)féminisation. Langage inclusif''. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20231225213750/https://tube.switch.ch/videos/0xwYktNzRp, 00:50 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref>


===Shortened doublets===
===Shortened doublets===
The feminine suffix is attached to the masculine, rather than the whole word being repeated (as in classical doublets).<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":4" />
The feminine [[wikipedia:Suffix|suffix]] gets attached to the masculine suffix, rather than the whole word being repeated (as in classical doublets).<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":4" />


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|}
|}


===Epicene person descriptions===
===Morphologically invariant [https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/gender-specific_noun.htm gender-specific nouns]===
For instance, « <u>Les élèves</u> apprennent leur leçon. »; « <u>L'enfant</u> regarde la télévision. »; « <u>Les juges</u> ont pris leur décision. ». As singular articles indicate gender ('la' and 'le'), this technique works best with plural forms. However, it also works with singular forms if the noun begins with a vowel, because the article automatically becomes "l'...," which does not express gender. A drawback is that there are not epicene occupational titles for all professions or functions.<ref name=":0" />
It should be noted that, because French systematically derives its agent nouns through the addition of gender-marked suffixes, it lacks the true [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_gender common-gender nouns], i. e. ''[https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Utrum Utrum]'' (cf. also [[wikipedia:English_nouns|dual-gender nouns]]), found in English.


In certain Swiss-French varieties, as in the canton of Vaud, masculine and feminine words ending in '-é' resp. '-ée' are pronounced differently (i. e. 'une employée' [ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:</u>]/[ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:j</u>] ''versus'' 'un employé' [ɛ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]/[œ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]). However, this linguistically conservative pronunciation is becoming increasingly marginal: it is primarily confined to Switzerland and, in major cities and among younger generations, the pronunciation is gradually converging with the standard French norm, meaning that the distinction between /e/ and /e:/ (or /e:j/, remnant from Franco-Provençal dialects, i. e. Patois, spoken in the region before linguistic homogenization) is being neutralized, resulting in a single phoneme /e/ and causing 'employé' and 'employée' to be pronounced identically. As a result, here, these words are considered orally epicene.
Some examples of morphologically — but not syntactically — invariant gender-specific nouns in French
{| class="wikitable"
|+Morphologically invariant gender-specific nouns
!indefinite article
!definite article
!Example of usage
!Commentary
|-
|un·e élève
|l'élève
|« <u>Les élèves</u> apprennent leur leçon. »
|''élève'', starting with a vowel, stays morphologically epicene when combined with the singular definite article (''la'' and ''le'' becoming shortened to ''l''' if followed by a vowel)
|-
|un·e enfant
|l'enfant
|« <u>L'enfant</u> regarde la télévision. »
|''id''.
|-
|un·e artiste
|l'artiste
|« <u>Les</u> art<u>istes</u> perdent leur travail. »
|Notice the epicene agentive suffix [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/-iste -iste].
|-
|un·e juge
|le/la juge
|« <u>Les juges</u> ont pris leur décision. »
|''juge'', starting with a consonent, can only stay morphologically epicene in combination with the plural — all epicene, by the way —articles.
|-
|un·e destinataire
|le/la destinataire
|« <u>Les</u> destinat<u>aires</u> ne recevront pas leur colis à temps. »
|Notice the epicene agentive suffix [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/-aire -aire].
|}
As singular [[wikipedia:Article_(grammar)|articles]] indicate gender ('la' and 'le'), this technique works best with plural forms. However, it also works with singular forms if the noun begins with a vowel, because the article automatically becomes ''l''', which does not express gender. A drawback is that there are not morphologically invariant occupational titles for all professions or functions in regards to [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gender natural gender], i. e. [https://www.plus.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Gender_in_German_MWerner.pdf ''Sexus''], "a linguistic category for the sex of real life beings, both the biological sex of animals or the social identity of a person."<ref>"Natural Gender". ''Wikipedia. Simple English: The Free Encyclopedia'', Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Last Modified Date: 14 March 2024, URL: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gender. Accessed 20 March 2026.</ref>
 
In certain Swiss-French varieties, as in the canton of Vaud, masculine and feminine words ending in <é> resp. <ée> are pronounced differently (e. g., ''une employée'' [ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:</u>]/[ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:j</u>] vs. ''un employé'' [ɛ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]/[œ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]). However, this linguistically conservative pronunciation is becoming increasingly marginal: it is primarily confined to Switzerland and, in major cities and among younger generations, the pronunciation is gradually converging with the standard French norm, meaning that the distinction between /e/ and /e:/ (or /e:j/, remnant from [[wikipedia:Franco-Provençal|Franco-Provençal dialects]] spoken in the region before linguistic homogenization) is being [[wikipedia:Neutralization_(linguistics)|neutralized]], resulting in a single phoneme /e/ and causing ''employé'' and ''employée'' to be pronounced identically. As a result, here, these words are considered orally indistinguishable.
 
=== Fixed-gender [[wikipedia:Epicenity|epicenes]] and [[wikipedia:Collective_noun|collective nouns]] ===
While human collective nouns — such as ''l'auditoire'' ('the audience') or ''le public'' ('the public')— inherently carry the semantic feature [+human], their relationship to natural gender/''Sexus'' diverges from that of individual personal nouns. Unlike fixed-gender epicenes (e.g., ''la sentinelle'', 'the sentry'), where a specific individual referent does indeed posses a gender/''Sexus'' that the noun's morphology simply ignores (rendering the form ''Sexus''-independent), collective nouns denote a macro-entity. In formal semantics, a multitude functioning as a single constituent does not inherently possess a natural gender. Thus, in collective nouns, the semantic feature of ''Sexus'' is not merely omitted, but is rather structurally completely absent (∅). In this respect, human collective nouns operate similarly to [[wikipedia:Animacy|inanimate]] objects (e.g., ''la chaise'', 'the chair'): they are assigned a [[wikipedia:Grammatical_gender|grammatical gender]]/''Genus'', but the semantic category of natural gender/Sexus is inherently inapplicable to them.
 
To classify the grammatical strategies for making French more gender-inclusive or gender-neutral, we need to distinguish between:


=== Monogender epicene nouns and collective terms ===
# '''''Sexus''-applicable nouns referring to animates'''
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.
## '''Gender-specific nouns'''
### '''morphologically gendered nouns''', where the noun gets its ''Sexus''-specification through derivation from gender-marked agentive affixes (compare ''acteur'' vs. ''actrice'').
### '''lexically gendered nouns''', where the ''Sexus''-specification is inherent to the [[wikipedia:Lexeme|lexeme]] (compare ''sœur'', 'sister', or: ''mec'', 'dude')
## '''Fixed-gender epicene nouns''', where the natural gender/''Sexus'' of the agent noun gets "overwritten" by grammatical gender/''Genus'' (''cf''.
# '''''Sexus''-inapplicable nouns referring to animates'''
## Collective nouns
 
This distinction is tripartite, comprising Sexus-dependent, Sexus-independent, and Sexus-inapplicable nouns, which underpins the morphological oppositions presented in the two following tables.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Collective terms<ref name=":11" />
|+Individual ''versus'' collective nouns<ref name=":11" />
!Inclusive gendered language
!Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') '''<small>morphologically gendered nouns</small>'''
!Inclusive neutral language
!Collective nouns (''Genus'')
|-
|-
|'''Les auditrices et auditeurs''' sont attentifs.
|'''Les auditrices et auditeurs''' sont attentifs.
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|}
|}
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Monogender (epicene) nouns<ref name=":11" />
|+Monogender nouns<ref name=":11" />
!Explicit binary gender
!Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') <small>lexically gendered nouns</small>
!Grammatically fixed gender
!Fixed-gender epicenes (''Genus'') <small>Sexus-independent</small>
|-
|-
|Je ne connais pas '''cet homme'''.
|Je ne connais pas '''cet homme'''.
Line 85: Line 132:


===Proximity agreement===
===Proximity agreement===
Up until the 18th century, the masculine gender did not always take precedence over the feminine in instances where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity<ref>EPFL (2023): ''L’accord de proximité''. Online at:https://www.epfl.ch/about/equality/fr/langage-inclusif/guide/principes/accord/ (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> and free-choice agreement coexisted alongside the masculine-over-feminine rule.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> For a significant portion of Old French history, proximity agreement was the most prevalent method for agreeing adjectives, past participles, etc. (cf. Anglade 1931:172).<ref>Anglade, J. (1931): ''Grammaire élémentaire de l'ancien français''. Paris: Armand Colin, 157–196.</ref> Today, this agreement could facilitate gender equality in grammar instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was suggested in the 17th and 18th century by French grammarians such as Malherbe, Vaugelas, Bouhours and Beauzée:<blockquote>« 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" />
Up until the 18th century, the masculine gender did not always take precedence over the feminine in instances where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity<ref>EPFL (2023): ''L’accord de proximité''. Online at:https://www.epfl.ch/about/equality/fr/langage-inclusif/guide/principes/accord/ (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> and free-choice agreement coexisted alongside the masculine-over-feminine rule.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> For a significant portion of Old French history, [[wikipedia:Agreement_(linguistics)|proximity agreement]] was the most prevalent method for agreeing adjectives, past participles, etc. (cf. Anglade 1931:172).<ref>Anglade, J. (1931): ''Grammaire élémentaire de l'ancien français''. Paris: Armand Colin, 157–196.</ref> Today, this agreement could facilitate gender equality in grammar instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was suggested in the 17th and 18th century by French grammarians such as Malherbe, Vaugelas, Bouhours and Beauzée:<blockquote>« 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" />
Line 104: Line 151:
==Neologisms==
==Neologisms==


===Personal pronouns===
=== Methodological Note ===
In the accompanying tables, the most widely adopted neologisms are italicized. Unless explicitly noted and justified within the text, all neologisms and morphological rules discussed in this article are attested across French-speaking online communities and digital platforms. A comprehensive inventory of these primary sources is provided in the "Main Resources" section at the end of this article.
 
===[[wikipedia:Personal_pronoun|Personal pronouns]]===
Regarding its [[wikipedia:Pronoun|pronouns]], French only distinguishes gender in the third-person (e.g.: 'elle', 'la', 'eux', etc.).


====Subject pronouns====
====[[wikipedia:Subject_pronoun|Subject pronouns]]====
French only distinguishes gender in the third-person singular (cf. 'elle' and 'il'). Up until the 12th century, French knew the neutral subject pronoun 'el'/'al'.<ref>Marchello-Nizia, C. (1989): Le neutre et l’impersonnel. In: ''Linx'' ''21'', 173–179. 10.3406/linx.1989.1139.</ref> Today, 'el' cannot be reintroduced from Old French as it would sound identical to 'elle', the current feminin subject pronoun. As for 'al', it sounds like 'elle' in spoken Canadian French.<ref name=":5">Ashley, F. (2019): Les personnes non-binaires en français : une perspective concernée et militante. In: ''H-France Salon'' ''11''(14).</ref> It could, however, still be a viable option 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/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</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 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</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/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</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/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> the most widely adopted subject (neo)pronoun is 'iel'. It was added to the prestigious dictionary ''Le Robert'' in 2021.<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 (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> Alongside 'iel', Canadian French also uses 'ille'.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> In metropolitan France, the pronoun 'al', proposed by linguist Alpheratz in their book ''Grammaire du français inclusif'' (2018), has gained some recognition. The table below presents the primary gender-neutral subject pronouns found in the French-speaking world.
Up until the 12th century, French knew the neutral subject pronoun 'el'/'al'.<ref>Marchello-Nizia, C. (1989): Le neutre et l’impersonnel. In: ''Linx'' ''21'', 173–179. 10.3406/linx.1989.1139.</ref> Today, 'el' cannot be reintroduced from Old French as it would sound identical to 'elle', the current feminin subject pronoun. As for 'al', it sounds like 'elle' in spoken Canadian French.<ref name=":5">Ashley, F. (2019): Les personnes non-binaires en français : une perspective concernée et militante. In: ''H-France Salon'' ''11''(14).</ref> It could, however, still be a viable option 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/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</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 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</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/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</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/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> the most widely adopted subject (neo)pronoun is 'iel(le)'. It was added to the prestigious dictionary ''Le Robert'' in 2021.<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 (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> Alongside 'iel(le)', Canadian French also seems to use 'ille'.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> In metropolitan France, the pronoun 'al', proposed by linguist Alpheratz in their book ''Grammaire du français inclusif'' (2018), has gained some recognition. The table below presents the primary gender-neutral subject pronouns found in the French-speaking world.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|+
Line 114: Line 165:
|-
|-
!Dominant usage
!Dominant usage
|iel <small>[jɛl]</small>
|''iel''(le) <small>[jɛl]</small>
|ille <small>[ij]</small><ref name=":5" />
|ille <small>[ij]</small><ref name=":5" />
| al  
| al  
Line 124: Line 175:
|}
|}


====Clitic and tonic pronouns====
====[[wikipedia:Object_pronoun|Object pronouns]]: [[wikipedia:Clitic|clitics]] and [[wikipedia:Disjunctive_pronoun|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, L./Levet, D. (2017): ''La catégorie de la personne''. Saint-Denis: MSH 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 (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> Currently, there is no prevailing gender-neutral clitic direct object personal pronoun; the most common ones are detailed below.
French distinguishes between clitic and tonic object pronouns. A clitic is a word that attaches in a [[wikipedia:Syntax|syntactically]] rigid way to another word to form a [[wikipedia:Prosody_(linguistics)|prosodic]] unit with it, lacking prosodic as well as [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(Sprachwissenschaft) distributional] autonomy.<ref name=":8">Michel, L./Levet, D. (2017): ''La catégorie de la personne''. Saint-Denis: MSH 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 (retrieved 15.12.2023).</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
Line 141: Line 192:
|-
|-
|<u>iel</u>
|<u>iel</u>
|<u>lae</u> <small>[lae]</small><u>/lo/lan/</u><ref>Wiki LGBTQIA FR (2021): ''Al/lan''. Online at: https://lgbtqia.fandom.com/fr/wiki/Al/lan (retrieved 11.01.2024).</ref><u>li/lu/lia, (l')</u>
|
* <u>''lae''</u> <small>[lae]</small>
* lea <small>[ləa]</small>
* <u>lo</u>
* <u>lan</u><ref>Wiki LGBTQIA FR (2021): ''Al/lan''. Online at: https://lgbtqia.fandom.com/fr/wiki/Al/lan (retrieved 11.01.2024).</ref>
* <u>li</u>
* <u>lu</u>
* <u>lia</u>
* <u>l'</u> <small>(standard French clitic used when the direct object precedes words that start with a vowel)</small>
|<u>lui</u>
|<u>lui</u>
|-
|-
Line 158: Line 217:
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 is not as fixed as the clitics' one.<ref name=":8" /> There are currently two competing systems:<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>Spencer-Hall, A./Gutt, B. (eds)(2021): ''Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography''. Amsterdam University Press. DOI: 10.2307/j.ctv1ks0cj4.
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 is not as fixed as the clitics' one.<ref name=":8" /> There are currently two competing systems:<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>Spencer-Hall, A./Gutt, B. (eds)(2021): ''Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography''. Amsterdam University Press. DOI: 10.2307/j.ctv1ks0cj4.


French cultural and linguistic translation from Maillet C. online at: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/88291459/Maillet_Trad_Terminologie_20pour_20les_20e_3Ftudes_20trans_20et_20non_20binaire_2021-libre.pdf?1657042694=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DTerminologie_pour_les_etudes_trans_et_no.pdf&Expires=1704980549&Signature=aHUqRbpWbQ8K1jtiqQoQV6cgYM~YTcaZmgDhb8U2KTMDILHd8PhO9peeR0SLWNPOlX5RCo1E7aQcCdQzxBeyKmzPDgp9QbYArmWmHSmtOH-QZRUvrjeFeEZSp6qzmIGyZD3ebRNlOH5aMrJViI1eQ32o53Bw2ghAge~D9upEEx~KXPQe9FIUArfFQo0ylInGK9jqh-OM60Qz2pXRc8llTJ3ovtnVPiL2cu2l1mcfBODJyb~IZZZ1MPczrVu-79y1RjeMr8f5BGtMbRD5nv8jtmLex6vWmIl1svtYZTpOaFPy8LwWBa70VogboWPqfAoOL1~CDZPuhlGuDmDErNknDA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (retrieved 11.01.2024).</ref> one consists in syncretizing (cf. analogical levelling)<ref name=":9">Campbell, L. (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'.
French cultural and linguistic translation from Maillet C. online at: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/88291459/Maillet_Trad_Terminologie_20pour_20les_20e_3Ftudes_20trans_20et_20non_20binaire_2021-libre.pdf?1657042694=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DTerminologie_pour_les_etudes_trans_et_no.pdf&Expires=1704980549&Signature=aHUqRbpWbQ8K1jtiqQoQV6cgYM~YTcaZmgDhb8U2KTMDILHd8PhO9peeR0SLWNPOlX5RCo1E7aQcCdQzxBeyKmzPDgp9QbYArmWmHSmtOH-QZRUvrjeFeEZSp6qzmIGyZD3ebRNlOH5aMrJViI1eQ32o53Bw2ghAge~D9upEEx~KXPQe9FIUArfFQo0ylInGK9jqh-OM60Qz2pXRc8llTJ3ovtnVPiL2cu2l1mcfBODJyb~IZZZ1MPczrVu-79y1RjeMr8f5BGtMbRD5nv8jtmLex6vWmIl1svtYZTpOaFPy8LwWBa70VogboWPqfAoOL1~CDZPuhlGuDmDErNknDA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (retrieved 11.01.2024).</ref> one consists in [[wikipedia:Syncretism_(linguistics)|syncretizing]] (cf. [[wikipedia:Morphological_leveling|analogical levelling]])<ref name=":9">Campbell, L. (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
Line 170: Line 229:
|elle
|elle
|-
|-
|<u>iel</u>
|<u>'''iel'''</u>
|<u>ellui</u> <small>[ɛllɥi]</small>
|'''<u>''ellui''</u> <small>[ɛllɥi]</small>'''
|-
|-
| ils
| ils
Line 179: Line 238:
|elles
|elles
|-
|-
|<u>iels</u>
|<u>'''iels'''</u>
|<u>elleux</u> <small>[ɛllø]</small>
|'''<u>''elleux''</u> <small>[ɛllø]</small>'''
|}
 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Analogical levelling
!Clitic subject pronoun
!Tonic pronoun
|-
|il
|lui
|-
|elle
|elle
|-
|<u>'''iel'''</u>
|'''<u>iel</u>(le) <small>[jɛl]</small>'''
|-
|ils
|eux
|-
|elles
|elles
|-
|<u>'''iels'''</u>
|'''<u>iels(/ielles)</u> <small>[jɛl]</small>'''
|}
 
==== [[wikipedia:Indefinite_pronoun|Indefinite pronouns and adjectives]] ====
Semantically, many indefinite pronouns (such as ''chacun'' or ''quelqu'un'') share the [+human] trait of personal pronouns, functioning essentially as unspecified human referents. However, because they are quantificational rather than referential, they lack a specific natural gender/''Sexus''. Consequently, enforcing binary grammatical gender (''Genus'') on these forms forces a specific morphological marker onto an inherently unspecified referent, invariably defaulting to the masculine generic in standard French.
{| class="wikitable"
!
!Masculine
!Feminine
!Analytic gender-neutral
!Synthetic gender-neutral
|-
!aucun·e
|aucun <small>[ok<u>œ̃</u>]/[ok<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|aucune <small>[oky<u>n</u>]</small>
|aucueune <small>[ok<u>œn</u>]</small>
|''aucan'' <small>[okɑ̃]/[okan]</small>
|-
!chacun·e
|chacun <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃</u>/[ʃak<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|chacune <small>[ʃaky<u>n</u>]</small>
|chacueune <small>[ʃak<u>œn</u>]</small>
|''chacan'' <small>[ʃakɑ̃]/[ʃakan]</small>
|-
!certain·e
|certain <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|certaine <small>[sɛʁtɛ<u>n</u>]</small>
|
|''certan'' <small>[sɛʁtɑ̃]/[sɛʁtan]</small>
|-
!tout·e
|tout
|toute
|
|toude
|-
!tous/toutes
|tous
|toutes
|''toustes,'' touts <small>[tuts]</small>
|
|-
!quelqu'un·e
|quelqu'un <small>[kɛlk<u>œ̃</u>]/[kɛlk<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|quelqu'une <small>[kɛlky<u>n</u>]</small>
|quelqu'eune <small>[kɛlk<u>œn</u>]</small>
|quelqu'an <small>[kɛlkɑ̃]/[kɛlkan]</small>
|}
|}
The indefinite pronoun 'quelqu'une' is extremely rare in modern French and its pendant 'quelqu'un' does not seem to be perceived as masculine by native French speakers,<ref>Liam (2023): Coming out day. 11.10.2023. Mon vécu de coming out. In: ''ekivock.nb'' (Instagram account). Online at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyP-j_Tobbj/?img_index=3.</ref> thus it is not clear how essential the degendering of this pronoun is.


===Determiners===
===Determiners===
==== Grammatical note ====
Unlike articles, demonstrative or possessive adjectives, pronouns aren't technically determiners. For readability reasons, and because they form a relatively small paradigm compared to their corresponding adjectives, they're included in the determiners category because they're thematically coppled with the respective (demonstrative or possessive) adjectives.


====Indefinite and definite article====
====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" /> Compounds — such as 'maon', from 'ma' and 'mon' — and portmanteau words, like 'utilisateurice', could be cognitively interpreted as neutral; at least, there have been no psycholinguistic studies disconfirming this, to the extent that these forms could technically also be called neutral. Furthermore, 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 words in French. 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.
In the discourse surrounding gender-inclusive language in French, the distinction between compounds that [[wikipedia:Portmanteau|blend]] or [[wikipedia:Concatenation|concatenate]] gender-marked [[wikipedia:Agent_nouns|agentive suffixes]] (e.g.: ''direct<u>eur</u>'''ice''''') ''versus'' lexical (e.g.: ''sœur'' and ''frère'' → ''adelphe'') and morphological [[wikipedia:Lexical_substitution|substitutions]] (→ cognitive approach) respectively [[wikipedia:Morphological_derivation|morphological derivations]] (→ structural approach), such as the epicene derivation 'direct<u>aire</u>', are usually referred to as ''inclusif'' vs. ''neutre'' in queer-positive communities.
 
However, the concatenation of gender-marked agentive suffixes adds the missing gender, i.e. natural gender/''Sexus'' [[wikipedia:Sememe|sememe]] to the given [[wikipedia:English_nouns|personal noun]], turn [[wikipedia:Agent_noun|agent nouns]] from single-gender personal noun to dual-gender masculine/feminine personal noun.<ref name=":0" /> Accordingly, they could theoretically be cognitively interpreted as neutral, to the extent that these forms could theoretically be cognitively processed as genderneutral, i. e. ''neutre''. Because the use of these neologisms remains peripheral in spoken French, psycholinguistic research has yet to disconfirm this possibility.
 
Conversely, agent nouns categorized as ''neutre'' — such as epicene derivations (e.g., ''coiffaire'', which attaches the gender-unspecific suffix ''-aire'' to a verbal root) or lexical substitutions (e.g., ''Monestre'', 'Mx'), as discussed higher — are inherently inclusive of all genders, making the label ''inclusif'' equally applicable to them. The pragmatic interchangeability of these labels renders them inadequate for differentiating the morphological mechanisms used to generate gender-inclusive neologisms in French. For this reason, the following table categorizes these strategies based on their structural properties — blend words being more [[wikipedia:Analytic_language|analytic]], and non blend words (epicene derivations; lexical substitions) being more [[wikipedia:Synthetic_language|synthetic]].


The currently most widely accepted neutral forms are denoted in italics in the table. Apart from them, most of the forms depicted in the tables are not in use. The tables thus merely represent suggestions that have been made for degendering French, and feature the items that have been retained by most blogs, researchers and LGBT communities in the French-speaking world.
In the following tables, the most widely adopted gender-inclusive forms are italicized. Beyond these specific instances, the majority of the forms presented have not achieved widespread currency in everyday usage. Consequently, the tables function primarily as an inventory of morphological proposals for the gender neutralization of French, highlighting the neologisms that have gained the most traction among inclusive language advocates, and LGBTQ+ communities in the Francophone world.


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 feminine and masculine forms have been incorporated into the analytic gender-neutral neologism.
The underlining within the IPA transcriptions carries no phonetic or phonological significance. Rather, it is employed strictly as a visual heuristic to isolate the specific phonetic segments from the source feminine and masculine forms that have been integrated into these analytically constructed neologisms.
[[File:Vowel trapezium for standard French.png|alt=IPA vowel trapezium for standard French|thumb|IPA vowel trapezium for standard French]]
[[File:Vowel trapezium for standard French.png|alt=IPA vowel trapezium for standard French|thumb|IPA vowel trapezium for standard French]]
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|+Articles
!
!
!Masculine
!Masculine
Line 214: Line 351:


A drawback of 'an' pronounced as [ɑ̃] is its nasality, a factor known for making vowels challenging to distinguish and learn, even for native French speakers.<ref>Sicard, E./Menin-Sicard, A./Rousteau, G. (2022): ''Oppositions de voyelles orales et nasales : identification des formants selon le genre''. INSA Toulouse: ffhal-03826558v2f.</ref> Consequently, [ɑ̃] might be perceived as a mispronunciation of 'un' or simply not distinct enough from 'un' to be recognized as a different morpheme.
A drawback of 'an' pronounced as [ɑ̃] is its nasality, a factor known for making vowels challenging to distinguish and learn, even for native French speakers.<ref>Sicard, E./Menin-Sicard, A./Rousteau, G. (2022): ''Oppositions de voyelles orales et nasales : identification des formants selon le genre''. INSA Toulouse: ffhal-03826558v2f.</ref> Consequently, [ɑ̃] might be perceived as a mispronunciation of 'un' or simply not distinct enough from 'un' to be recognized as a different morpheme.
====Possessive adjectives ====
 
Accordingly, regarding the morphing resp. non-morphing of the definite article with the prepositions 'de' and 'à', we'd have 'à lae' and 'de lae'.
 
====[[wikipedia:Demonstrative|Demonstrative]] adjective====
{| class="wikitable"
!Masculine
!Feminine
!Analytic gender-neutral
!Synthetic gender-neutral
!Plural
|-
|ce/cet
|cette
|
|cèd
|ces
|}
La vie en Queer proposes 'cet', which sounds the same as the feminine 'cette'; Divergenres retains 'cèx', but notes that it sounds like the word 'sexe'. A third possibility would be to voice resp. to devoice the final consonant of the feminine word, for instance turning [t] to [d], or [g] to [k]. This would allow the word to remain easily recognizable while being distinct from both the masculine and  the feminine forms. This approach would be advantageous in regards to minimizing misunderstandings and memorization effort.
 
==== [[wikipedia:Demonstrative|Demonstrative]] pronouns ====
{| class="wikitable"
!
! Masculine
!Feminine
!Analytic gender-neutral
!Synthetic gender-neutral
|-
!Singular
|celui <small>[səl<u>ɥi</u>]</small>
|celle <small>[s<u>ɛl</u>]</small>
|''cellui'' <small>[s<u>ɛl</u><u>ɥi</u>]</small>
|ciel <small>[sjεl]</small>
|-
!Plural
|ceux <small>[s<u>ø</u>]</small>
|celles <small>[s<u>ɛl</u>]</small>
|''celleux''  <small>[s<u>ɛl</u><u>ø</u>]</small>
|ciels <small>[sjεl]</small>, ceuxes <small>[søks]</small>
|}
 
==== <big>Possessives</big> ====
 
===== Possessives adjectives =====
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!
!
Line 226: Line 405:
|ma
|ma
|''maon'' <small>[maõ]</small>
|''maon'' <small>[maõ]</small>
|''man'' <small>[mɑ̃]/[man]</small>, mo, mi(ne), mian <small>[mjɑ̃]</small>
|''man'' <small>[mɑ̃]/[man]</small>, mo, mi(ne), la/le mian <small>[mjɑ̃]</small>
|-
|-
!2SG
!2SG
Line 242: Line 421:
The possessive adjectives 'mon', 'ton', and 'son', which are generally masculine, are also used as feminine possessive adjectives when combined with a feminine noun that begins (phonetically) with a vowel: 'mon amie', 'ton employée', 'son hôtesse', etc. Therefore, there is no need to use a possessive neologism in words starting with vowels, as the masculine and feminine gender are syncretized in this context.
The possessive adjectives 'mon', 'ton', and 'son', which are generally masculine, are also used as feminine possessive adjectives when combined with a feminine noun that begins (phonetically) with a vowel: 'mon amie', 'ton employée', 'son hôtesse', etc. Therefore, there is no need to use a possessive neologism in words starting with vowels, as the masculine and feminine gender are syncretized in this context.


The pronunciation [sɑ̃] of 'san' is a homophone of 'sang' ('blood'). Alpheratz proposes 'mu(n)', 'tu(n)', 'su(n)'<ref name=":13" /> as synthetic forms. 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. 10.1017/cbo9780511486371.005.</ref><ref>Carvalho, J. (2023): From binary features to elements: Implications for markedness theory and phonological acquisition. In: ''Radical: A Journal of Phonology'' ''3'', 346–384.</ref> Alternative forms could be 'mi(ne)', 'ti(ne)', 'sine', as only the roundness parameter (cf. [y] and [i] in the IPA) distinguishes them from the original neologisms suggested by Alpheratz. 'si(ne)' could be pronounced with an '-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 (18.12.2023).</ref> in Norwegian,<ref>Norwegian University of Science and Technology (no data): ''8 Grammar. Possessives''. Online at: https://www.ntnu.edu/now/8/grammar (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref>  in Swiss-German,<ref>Klaudia, K. (2017): ''Schweizerdeutsch. Schlüssel zu den Übungen.'' Online at: https://silo.tips/download/schweizerdeutsch-schlssel-zu-den-bungen (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref>  and in other Germanic languages. As 60% of of humans are multilingual,<ref>McGibney, S. (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 (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> cross-linguistic influence could be used to facilitate the memorization and adoption of neologisms.<ref>Van Dijk, C./Van Wonderen, E./Koutamanis, E./Kootstra, G.J./Dijkstra, T./Unsworth, S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence in simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children: a meta-analysis. In: ''J. Child Lang.'' ''49'', 897–929. 10.1017/S0305000921000337.</ref><ref>Van Dijk, C./Dijkstra, T./Unsworth, S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence during online sentence processing in bilingual children. In: ''Bilingualism'' ''25'', 691–704. 10.1017/S1366728922000050.</ref>
The pronunciation [sɑ̃] of 'san' is a homophone of 'sang' ('blood'). Alpheratz proposes 'mu(n)', 'tu(n)', 'su(n)'<ref name=":13" /> as synthetic forms. 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. 10.1017/cbo9780511486371.005.</ref><ref>Carvalho, J. (2023): From binary features to elements: Implications for markedness theory and phonological acquisition. In: ''Radical: A Journal of Phonology'' ''3'', 346–384.</ref> Alternative forms could be 'mi(ne)', 'ti(ne)', 'sine', as only the roundness parameter (cf. [y] and [i] in the IPA) distinguishes them from the original neologisms suggested by Alpheratz. 'si(ne)' could be pronounced with an '-ne' ending to avoid homophony with 'si' (i. e. 'if'). Similar-sounding possessives 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 (18.12.2023).</ref> in Norwegian,<ref>Norwegian University of Science and Technology (no data): ''8 Grammar. Possessives''. Online at: https://www.ntnu.edu/now/8/grammar (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref>  in Swiss-German,<ref>Klaudia, K. (2017): ''Schweizerdeutsch. Schlüssel zu den Übungen.'' Online at: https://silo.tips/download/schweizerdeutsch-schlssel-zu-den-bungen (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref>  and in other Germanic languages. As 60% of of humans are multilingual,<ref>McGibney, S. (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 (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> cross-linguistic influence could be used to facilitate the memorization and adoption of neologisms.<ref>Van Dijk, C./Van Wonderen, E./Koutamanis, E./Kootstra, G.J./Dijkstra, T./Unsworth, S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence in simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children: a meta-analysis. In: ''J. Child Lang.'' ''49'', 897–929. 10.1017/S0305000921000337.</ref><ref>Van Dijk, C./Dijkstra, T./Unsworth, S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence during online sentence processing in bilingual children. In: ''Bilingualism'' ''25'', 691–704. 10.1017/S1366728922000050.</ref>
 
====Demonstrative adjective====
{| class="wikitable"
!Masculine
!Feminine
!Analytic gender-neutral
!Synthetic gender-neutral
!Plural
|-
|ce/cet
|cette
|
|cèd
|ces
|}
La vie en Queer proposes 'cet', which sounds the same as the feminine 'cette'; Divergenres retains 'cèx', but notes that it sounds like the word 'sexe'. A third possibility is to voice or to devoice the final consonant of the feminine word, for instance turning [t] to [d], or [g] to [k]. This would allow the word to remain easily recognizable while being distinct from both the masculine and  the feminine forms. This approach has the advantage of minimizing misunderstandings and memorization effort.
 
===Non personal pronouns===


====Possessive pronouns====
===== Possessive pronouns =====
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!
!
Line 284: Line 445:
Currently, there is no established combination of definite article and possessive pronoun. In this table, the definite article "lae" is simply paired with the possessive pronoun "mienn" for morphological reasons, as both words are of the analytic gender-neutral type. This also applies to the definite article "lo" and the possessive pronoun "miem", both of which are of the synthetic type.
Currently, there is no established combination of definite article and possessive pronoun. In this table, the definite article "lae" is simply paired with the possessive pronoun "mienn" for morphological reasons, as both words are of the analytic gender-neutral type. This also applies to the definite article "lo" and the possessive pronoun "miem", both of which are of the synthetic type.


====Demonstrative pronouns====


Nota bene: Germanic languages encode the gender of the possessor in their third person singular — Romance languages do not. Only the gender of the possessed object is marked through flexion.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!
|+Grammatical note on English versus French possessives
! Masculine
!English
!Feminine
!French
!Analytic gender-neutral
!''Genus'' of possessed object
!Synthetic gender-neutral
|-
|-
!Singular
|That's '''her''' bike. That's '''hers'''.
|celui <small>[səl<u>ɥi</u>]</small>
|C'est '''son''' vélo. C'est '''le sien'''.
|celle <small>[s<u>ɛl</u>]</small>
|le vélo (masculine)
|''cellui'' <small>[s<u>ɛl</u><u>ɥi</u>]</small>
|
|-
|-
!Plural
|That's '''her''' car. That's '''hers'''.
|ceux <small>[s<u>ø</u>]</small>
|C'est '''sa''' voiture. C'est '''la sienne'''.
|celles <small>[s<u>ɛl</u>]</small>
|la voiture (feminine)
|''celleux'' <small>[s<u>ɛl</u><u>ø</u>]</small>
|ceuxes <small>[søks]</small>
|}
 
====Indefinite pronouns====
 
{| class="wikitable"
!
!Masculine
!Feminine
!Analytic gender-neutral
!Synthetic gender-neutral
|-
|-
!aucun·e
|That's '''his''' cake. That's '''his'''.
|aucun <small>[ok<u>œ̃</u>]/[ok<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|C'est '''son''' gâteau. C'est '''le sien'''.
|aucune <small>[oky<u>n</u>]</small>
|le gâteau (masculine)
|aucueune <small>[ok<u>œn</u>]</small>
|''aucan'' <small>[okɑ̃]/[okan]</small>
|-
|-
!chacun·e
|That's '''his''' watch. That's '''his'''.
|chacun <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃</u>/[ʃak<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|C'est '''sa''' montre. C'est '''la sienne'''.
|chacune <small>[ʃaky<u>n</u>]</small>
|la montre (feminine)
|chacueune <small>[ʃak<u>œn</u>]</small>
|''chacan'' <small>[ʃakɑ̃]/[ʃakan]</small>
|-
|-
!certain·e
|That's Avery. '''Their'''[sing.] favorite dish is pizza. It's '''theirs'''.
|certain <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|Ça, c'est Avery. '''Son''' plat préféré, c'est la pizza. C'est '''le sien'''.
|certaine <small>[sɛʁtɛ<u>n</u>]</small>
|le plat (masculine)
|
|''certan'' <small>[sɛʁtɑ̃]/[sɛʁtan]</small>
|-
|-
!tout·e
|That's Avery. '''Their'''[sing.] house is green. It's '''theirs'''.
|tout
|Ça, c'est Avery. '''Sa''' maison est verte. C'est '''la sienne'''.
|toute
|la maison (feminine)
|
|toude
|-
!tous/toutes
|tous
|toutes
|''toustes''
|
|-
!quelqu'un·e
|quelqu'un <small>[kɛlk<u>œ̃</u>]/[kɛlk<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small>
|quelqu'une <small>[kɛlky<u>n</u>]</small>
|quelqu'eune <small>[kɛlk<u>œn</u>]</small>
|quelqu'an <small>[kɛlkɑ̃]/[kɛlkan]</small>
|}
|}
The indefinite pronoun 'quelqu'une' is extremely rare in modern French and its pendant 'quelqu'un' not necessarily perceived as masculine,<ref>Liam (2023): Coming out day. 11.10.2023. Mon vécu de coming out. In: ''ekivock.nb'' (Instagram account). Online at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyP-j_Tobbj/?img_index=3.</ref> thus it is not clear how essential the degendering of this pronoun is.


===Nouns and adjectives ===
===Nouns and adjectives ===
Line 419: Line 544:
|amoureuseux
|amoureuseux
|amoureuxe [amuʁøks]
|amoureuxe [amuʁøks]
amoureusse
amouré·e
amouré·e
|-
|-
Line 424: Line 550:
|dieu
|dieu
|déesse
|déesse
|dieuesse
|dieuesse, dieusse
|dieuxe
|dieuxe
|}
|}
Line 504: Line 630:
|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>
|migneune [miɲœn]
|mignonn <small>[miɲ<u>õn</u>]</small>
|mignaine, ''mignan'' <small>[miɲɑ̃]/[miɲan]</small>
|mignaine, ''mignan'' <small>[miɲɑ̃]/[miɲan]</small>
|}
|}
The '-aine' suffix has gained popularity. However, its use in monosyllabic words like 'brun·e' may hinder comprehension, which could explain why 'bran', a form that preserves the nasality of the final vowel while only changing its place of articulation, is more widespread. Words with a '-ien/-ienne' (and obviously also '-ain/-aine') suffix cannot form a synthetic gender-neutral form with '-aine', as this would result in a word pronounced exactly the same way as the feminine one (cf. 'citoyenne'). Here, the synthetical neutral forms created with '-an' only retain masculine phonetic traits (i. e. its manner of articulation — vocalic — and its nasality trait — which is positive). Theoretically, this could lead to similar issues as discussed in the Endings from Latin '-or' and '-rix' subchapter. The same could be true with synthetic gender-neutral forms ending in '-aine', but this time in favour of the feminine. However, even though the suffix '-aine' could sound feminine, the resulting form is still easily distinguishable from the original one, since the vowels implied are oral and not nasal, and can therefore be less easily mistaken for mispronunciations — while 'écrivan', 'citoyan' and 'bran' could be (for more information, see the Indefinite and definite article subchapter).
The '-aine' suffix has gained popularity. However, its use in monosyllabic words like 'brun·e' may hinder comprehension, which could explain why 'bran', a form that preserves the nasality of the final vowel while only changing its place of articulation, is more widespread. Words with a '-ien/-ienne' (and obviously also '-ain/-aine') suffix cannot form a synthetic gender-neutral form with '-aine', as this would result in a word pronounced exactly the same way as the feminine one (cf. 'citoyenne'). Here, the synthetical neutral forms created with '-an' only retain masculine phonetic traits (i. e. its manner of articulation — vocalic — and its nasality trait — which is positive). Theoretically, this could lead to similar issues as discussed in the Endings from Latin '-or' and '-rix' subchapter. The same could be true with synthetic gender-neutral forms ending in '-aine', but this time in favour of the feminine. However, even though the suffix '-aine' could sound feminine, the resulting form is still easily distinguishable from the original one, since the vowels implied are oral and not nasal, and can therefore be less easily mistaken for mispronunciations — while 'écrivan', 'citoyan' and 'bran' could be (for more information, see the Indefinite and definite article subchapter).
The use of "-iste" is always genderneutral, like "feministe".


====Endings with silent consonant X in the masculine and audible consonant X in the feminine====
====Endings with silent consonant X in the masculine and audible consonant X in the feminine====
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Endings with silent (♂︎) and audible consonant (♀︎)
|+Endings with silent (♂︎) and audible (♀︎) consonant
!
!
!Masculine  
!Masculine  
Line 529: Line 657:
|
|
|grante, granxe, gransse
|grante, granxe, gransse
|-
!-al/ale
|principal
|principale
|
|principèl, principalx, principalz
|-
|-
!-iet/iète
!-iet/iète
Line 542: Line 676:
|oblonk
|oblonk
|-
|-
!-er/-ière  
!-ier/-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 632: Line 766:
Florence Ashley argues that the order in which the feminine and masculine morphemes are combined does not matter.<ref name=":5" /> Usage, intelligibleness and personal preference ultimately determine which forms will gain traction. However, the prosodic sequencing of syllables in French can impact intelligibility. For instance, in the pronunciation of 'naïvif' (neutral form) as [na'i'<u>vif</u>], contrary to 'naïfive', the end of the word is acoustically identical to 'vif' (i. e. 'vivacious') and can thus lead to confusion.
Florence Ashley argues that the order in which the feminine and masculine morphemes are combined does not matter.<ref name=":5" /> Usage, intelligibleness and personal preference ultimately determine which forms will gain traction. However, the prosodic sequencing of syllables in French can impact intelligibility. For instance, in the pronunciation of 'naïvif' (neutral form) as [na'i'<u>vif</u>], contrary to 'naïfive', the end of the word is acoustically identical to 'vif' (i. e. 'vivacious') and can thus lead to confusion.


==== Some gender-neutral nouns from irregular substantives====
==== Gender-neutral suggestions for some gender-specific nouns (natural gender/''Sexus'')====
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Irregular substantives
|+Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') and current gender-neutral suggestions
!Masculine
!Masculine
!Feminine
!Feminine
Line 660: Line 794:
|Monestre
|Monestre
|}
|}
==Illustrative narrative text with neologisms==
Neologisms from different paradigms and approaches are depicted here.
''"Lae maîtrè accueillent les enfants et leur demande de prendre place. La leçon du jour concerne les métiers. L’instituteurice interroge les élèves sur leurs souhaits professionnels et les professions exercées par les membres de leur famille. Eune élève dans la deuxième rangée prend la parole :''
*Plus tard, j’aimerais travailler en tant qu’infirmiér ou chirurgian, parce que mi frœur aîné·e, Amel, est eune brillande médecin à l’hôpital de Lyon et que je l’admire beaucoup. Malheureusement, al est très occupé·e en ce moment et je ne peux lo voir et passer du temps avec ael que le week-end.
''An autre élève réagit :''
*Quand j’étais à l’hôpital parce qu’il y avait un problème avec mon glucomètre, li docteuresse qui s’est occupé·e de moi m’a dit qu’iel s’appelait Amel ! Est-ce que ton adelphe est rouxe, par hasard ?
*Non, al est pas rouxe, mais al se teint régulièrement les cheveux avec du henné !
*Alors je suis sur·e que c'était tan frœur ! Moi, quand je serai grante, j’aimerais m’occuper aussi bien des autres que le fait Amel. J’aimerais devenir éducataire spécialisé·e.
*Moi aussi j’adore aider les autres ! Souvent, le matin, j’aide mi jumal à s’habiller, à préparer sa récré et à mettre ses chaussures, parce qu’iel a un chromosome de plus que moi alors certaines choses sont moins faciles pour ellui. Je me montre toujours patiende et douxe parce qu’iel fait pas ça exprès ! J’écrirai des livres sur ce dont les personnes qui réfléchissent différemment ont besoin et je découvrirai pourquoi elles pensent comme ça : du coup, quand je serai vieuille, je serai écrivan-chercheureuse.
*Comment ça, quand tu seras vieilleux ? Tu crois que tu vas commencer à travailler quand ?
*Je sais pas, quand je serai adulte, quand je serai vieuille, quoi.
* Ce que tu es mignan de penser que je suis vieilleux, moi, merci bien.
*(ricanements)
*Moi, je suis un peu inquiède parce que je ne sais pas ce que je voudrais faire plus tard.
* Peut-être tes camarades peuvent te donner des idées.
*Je peux te raconter ce que fait mo grante cousaine, Anh : comme al adore les animaux, al est devenu·e paysaine, comme ça al peut les caresser tous les jours !
* Mi voisaine, à moi, iel est enseignande de Yoruba, et parfois iel donne même des cours à domicile.
*Mais, je lae connais, tan voisan André·e, al est kazakhstanaisse, ses langues maternelles, c'est le russe et le kazakh, al peut pas enseigner le Yoruba.
*Bien sûr qu’iel peut ! Tu as pas besoin d’avoir une nationalité spécifique pour savoir une langue ! La preuve, moi je suis allemante et italian, mais je parle que français.
*On a discuté de beaucoup de métiers dans le monde du social. Est-ce que vous connaissez des gens dans des domaines plus techniques ?
*Oui, mi paman, par exemple, al travaille en tant qu’ingénieureuse de logiciel. Parfois, al est de piquet et, ces soirs-là, quand quelque chose tombe en panne, al devient toude blank et se précipite sur son ordinateur pour réparer le problème. Mapa dit toujours que je dois pas rire de Paman, dans ces moments, mais j’arrive pas à me retenir, la tête qu’al fait est trop drôle.
*Et to mapa, iel fait quoi ?
*Ellui, iel est politician : iel vérifie que vous continuez à toustes vous comporter en bans citoyans !
*Tu es bien naïfive si tu penses qu’en général on se comporte en bans citoyans !
*Moi, j'ai pas pu parler encore.
*Vas-y, Ariel·le, on t'écoute.
*Mi tancle, iel est champian de para hockey.
*C'est pas un métier, ça, le sport.
*Oh que si ! Iel s'entraîne dur tous les jours, d'ailleurs sine entraîneureuse est très fier·e d'ellui parce qu'iel est an capitan si engagé·e que son équipe est régulièrement sélectionnée pour les Jeux Paralympiques. Moi, plus tard, j'aimerais aussi être eune sportifive de haut niveau, comme iel.
*Bien, sur ce, je vous propose à toustes d'aller enfiler vos affaires de sport : on se retrouve dans la salle de gymnastique pour une partie de unihockey.
''Les élèves :''
*Yes, merci Ariel·le !"


==Discussion==
==Discussion==
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