Gender neutral language in French: Difference between revisions

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=== Determiners ===

==== Indefinite, definite article ~~and possessive adjectives~~ ====

==== 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.

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!

!~~masculine~~

!Masculine

!~~feminine~~

!Feminine

!~~analytic~~ gender neutral

!Analytic gender neutral

!~~synthetic~~ gender neutral

!Synthetic gender neutral

|-

!Indefinite article

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|la

|''lae'' [lae], lea [ləa]

|lo, li, lu, lia

|''lo'', li, lu, lia

|}

==== Possessive adjectives ====

{| class="wikitable"

!

!Masculine

!Feminine

!Analytic gender neutral

!Synthetic gender neutral

|-

!~~Possessive adjectives 1PS~~

!1SG

|mon

|ma

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|''man'' [mã]/[man], my [mi]

|-

!~~Possessive adjectives 2PS~~

!2SG

|ton

|ta

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|''tan'' [tã]/[tan], ti

|-

!~~Possessive adjectives 3PS~~

!3SG

|son

|sa

|''saon'' [saõ]

|san [sã]/[san], sine [sin]

|}

==== Demonstrative adjective ====

{| class="wikitable"

!Masculine

!Feminine

!Analytic gender neutral

!Synthetic gender neutral

!Plural

|-

|ce/cet

|cette

|

|cèd

|ces

|}

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==== Possessive pronouns ====

{| class="wikitable"

!

!Masculine

!Feminine

!Analytic gender neutral

!Synthetic gender neutral

|-

!Singular

|le mien [lə mjɛ̃]

|la mienne [la mjɛn]

|lae mienn [lae mjɛ̃n]

|lo ''miem''

|-

!Plural

|les miens [le mjɛ̃]

|les miennes [le mjɛn]

|les mienns [le mjɛ̃n]

|les ''miems''

|}

==== Demonstrative pronouns ====

{| class="wikitable"

!

!Masculine

!Feminine

!Analytic gender neutral

!Synthetic gender neutral

|-

!Singular

|celui [səlɥi]

|celle [sɛl]

|cellui [sɛlɥi]

|

|-

!Plural

|ceux [sø]

|celles [sɛl]

|celleux [sɛlø]

|ceuxes [søks]

|}

==== Indefinite pronouns ====

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=== Nouns and adjectives ===

The predominant neutral form, between the analytic and the synthetic gender-neutral approach, is denoted in italics in the table. 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.

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 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 analytic gender neutral forms that originate from Latin '-or' and '-rix' are currently in use,<ref>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.

{| class="wikitable"

|+

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==== Discussion ====

The analytic gender neutral forms that originate from Latin '-or' and '-rix' are currently in use,<ref>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.

Regarding the neoforms created with the '-aire' suffix (avantages et désavantages par rapport à '-eureuse').