Gender neutral language in French: Difference between revisions

Line 50:

*'''Epicene person descriptions:'''<ref name=":0" /> For example, « Les élèves apprennent leur leçon. »; « L'enfant regarde la télévision. »; « Les juges 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 ~~social~~ identity — language on the right.

*'''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.

{| class="wikitable"

Line 75:

|}

*'''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 prevail over the feminine ~~gender~~ in cases where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity agreement prevailed.<ref name=":2" /> This congruency allows for equality between grammatical genders instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was decided in the 17th and 18th century by the French grammarians Malherbe, Vaugelas, Bouhours and Beauzée:

*'''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 prevail over the feminine in cases where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity agreement prevailed.<ref name=":2" /> This congruency allows for equality between grammatical genders instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was decided 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" />