Nonbinary Wiki

English neutral pronouns

Revision as of 19:59, 28 November 2020 by imported>TXJ (→‎Ve)
Most used neutral pronouns
  1. They/them (79.5%)
  2. Xe/xem (7.2%)
  3. E/em (5.2%)
  4. Ze/hir (4.7%)
  5. It/its (4.4%)
  6. Fae/faer (4.3%)

Data provided by the 2019 Gender Census.[1]

English neutral pronouns are useful not only when writing documents that need to use inclusive language, but also for any nonbinary people who prefer not to have their pronouns imply that they are female or male. As shown in surveys, many nonbinary people are okay with being called "he" or "she," but there are also many nonbinary people who don't want to be called either of these. The surveys show that the most popular gender-neutral pronoun for nonbinary people is singular they, but nearly as many prefer or accept some other neutral pronoun. See examples of this in pronouns in use for nonbinary people.

History

In English, people are usually called by a pronoun that implies their gender. For example, she for women, and he for men. The use of singular they as a gender-neutral pronoun has been documented as standard usage in English throughout the past thousand years. However, prescriptive grammarians in the late eighteenth century decided that it was bad grammar because it works like a plural and because it isn't done in Latin.[2]

Prescriptive grammarians of the late eighteenth century instead recommended using "he" as a gender-neutral pronoun when one is needed, instead of "singular they."[3] However, "gender-neutral he" results in writings that are unclear about whether they mean only men or not, which makes problems in law.[4]

Regional nominative pronouns

There have been some native English dialects that have their own gender-neutral pronouns, such as a, ou, and yo. These are often regional. One curious thing that a, ou, and yo all have in common is that they have only been recorded in their nominative form. It's possible that these three sets of pronouns may not actually have other forms (possessive, reflexive, etc). For this reason, these three sets of native English pronouns are listed separately from the other pronouns on this page that have complete forms. Although it's easy to make up more forms for these pronouns (such as inventing "ouself" [sic]), this is not what linguists have recorded in use.

A

A (nominative form only). "In 1789, William H. Marshall records […] Middle English epicene ‘a’, used by the 14th century English writer John of Trevisa and both the OED and Wright's English Dialect Dictionary confirm the use of ‘a’ for he, she, it, they, and even I. This ‘a’ is a reduced form of the Anglo-Saxon he = ‘he’ and heo = ‘she’.”[5] [6] Some living British dialects still use the gender-neutral "a" pronoun.[7]

Ou

Ou (nominative form only) was first recorded in a native English dialect in the sixteenth century. "In 1789, William H. Marshall records the existence of a dialectal English epicene pronoun, singular ou: '"Ou will" expresses either he will, she will, or it will.' Marshall traces ou to Middle English epicene a, used by the fourteenth-century English writer John of Trevisa, and both the OED and Wright's English Dialect Dictionary confirm the use of a for he, she, it, they, and even I." In K. A. Cook's short story "The Differently Animated and Queer Society," the queer character Moon asks to be called by "ou" pronouns.[8]

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 if 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, "a." Either that, or these forms exist, and the researchers just didn't collect them.[9][10]

Neopronouns

Neopronoun is a category for any English pronouns that are independent from traditional third person English pronouns. In the strictest sense, a neopronoun is a pronoun which is not based on a noun (nounself pronouns), and is not he/him, she/her, it/its, or they/them. [11]

Seeking a solution to the problem of a lack of a gender-neutral pronoun in English that satisfies all needs, people since the mid-nineteenth century have proposed many new gender-neutral singular pronouns.[12] For example, sie, Spivak pronouns, and others. None of these new words (neologisms) has become standard use or adopted into books of English grammar. However, some sets of these neologistic pronouns have seen a use for real people with nonbinary gender identities, and for characters in fiction. These neologisms are the main topic explored in the list that follows in this article.

The list

This list is of third-person gender-neutral singular pronouns in English. Some are "new" pronouns, and others have been in use for over a hundred years.

Please feel free to add more, though note that if you don't provide citations for notability or include all five forms your entry may be moved to the talk page or be removed entirely. List pronoun sets in alphabetical order by their nominative form, or by the name of the set.

Alternating pronouns

he, her, his, herself (for one of many possible examples). Instead of using an alternative or neutral pronoun set, some people prefer an alternation between different sets. This is also called "rolling pronouns" by some.[13] Justice Ginsburg was in favor of alternating "he" and "she" pronouns to make legal documents gender-inclusive.[3]

Use in fiction: In K. A. Cook's short story "Blue Paint, Chocolate and Other Similes," in Crooked Words, most of the story involves the narrator Ben moving from one set of pronouns to another for Chris as he tries to figure out Chris's gender. When the narrator is trying to determine whether Chris is male or female, Ben alternates between thinking of Chris as he or she. Upon recognizing that Chris identifies as nonbinary, the narrator begins using ze pronouns for Chris. Then, Ben finally finds a good moment to ask for Chris's pronoun preference.[14]

Use by people: In the 2018 Gender Census, 13.8% of respondents chose "mix it up" both alone and in addition to other pronoun choices.[1] Nonbinary artist and activist Sasha Alexander uses alternating "she/they/he" pronouns,[15][16] as does author Pat Schmatz.[17]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell her a joke he laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet her I hug him.
  • Pronominal possessive: When he does not get a haircut, her hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If my mobile phone runs out of power, he lets me borrow hers.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds herself. or Each child feeds himself.

E

There are several very similar sets of pronouns with the nominative form of "E," which have been independently proposed or revived over the last hundred years.[18][19]

E (Spivak pronouns)

E, Em, Eir, Eirs, Emself. These are sometimes called spivak pronouns. In 1990, Michael Spivak used them in his manual, The Joy of TeX, so that no person in his examples had a specified gender. These pronouns became well-known on the Internet because they were built into a popular multi-user chat, LambdaMOO, in 1991. Many users enjoyed choosing pronouns that didn't specify their gender. The pronouns then became a common feature of other multi-user chats made throughout the 1990s. Although many other variations have been attributed to Michael Spivak, this is the actual set Spivak used in The Joy of TeX in 1990 or 1991. Note that he always capitalized all forms of it, but not all users of these pronouns do so. [20] Spivak doesn't indicate whether he created these pronouns, or adopted or adapted them from somewhere else. Spivak is credited with having created these pronouns, although his book doesn't outright say that they're of his own creation. (Compare Elverson's ey pronouns, which are very similar, with only a small spelling difference in the nominative form.)

Use in real life and non-fiction:

  • When a programmer added this pronoun set to LambdaMOO in 1991, he used the same spelling as Spivak, but not capitalized.[21] Regarding LambdaMOO, John Costello wrote, "I know the wizard who originally included the spivak pronouns on the MOO. He says he did it just on a whim after having read the Joy of TeX — he never thought they'd acquire the sexual and political nimbus they have over the years."[20] LambdaMOO's "help spivak" command explains that these pronouns "were developed by mathematician Michael Spivak for use in his books."[22] Programmer Roger "Rog" Crew tested the LambdaMOO system by putting more pronoun options into it in May 1991, including Spivak's set he remembered from The Joy of TeX. Crew didn't delete the pronouns after testing them, and later expressed "dismay" that the spivak pronouns became popular.[23][24]
  • Spivak pronouns became such a part of 1990s Internet culture that a handbook to that culture, Yib's Guide to Mooing (2003), uses spivak pronouns whenever speaking of a hypothetical person whose gender need not be specified.[25]
  • In Internet environments, spivak was categorized not only as a set of pronouns but as a gender identity, which Thomas describes: "The spivak gender [...] is more representative of an emotional and intellectual state than of a physical configuration. It should be pointed out at the start that the sexuality available to a spivak is a bonus of online life, but it isn't the raison d'etre. Rather, it's a subtle notion of a gender-free condition. It's not androgynous. It's not unisexual. It's simply ambiguous."[26] Some self-described spivaks use spivak as a proper noun for their non-binary gender identity.

Use in fiction:

  • Steven Shaviro's theoretical fiction novel Doom Patrols (1995-1997) uses spivak pronouns at times.[27]
  • The English translation of Sayuri Ueda's science fiction novel The Cage of Zeus (2011) uses spivak pronouns for genetically engineered characters with non-dyadic bodies and non-binary gender.[28]
  • In Orion's Arm (a fictional 12th millennium AD setting, as non-specific pronouns for sophonts of any gender, including AIs and aliens.[29]

Use for people:

  • In 1996, 74 out of 7064 users on LambdaMOO went by spivak pronouns, making it the second most popular nonbinary pronoun there.[30] In 2002, 108 out of 4061 users on LambdaMOO used spivak pronouns, making it the most popular neologistic pronoun set there.[20]
  • In 1996, 10 out of 1015 users on MediaMOO went by spivak pronouns, making these the second most popular nonbinary pronoun.[31]
  • The comic artist Maia Kobabe and the author Bogi "prezzey" Takács go by spivak pronouns.[32]
  • In the 2019 Gender Census, 5.2% of participants were happy for people to use Spivak pronouns when referring to them.[1]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke E laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug Em.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, Eir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow Eirs.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds Emself.

On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/e

Ey (Elverson pronouns)

ey, em, eir, eirs, emself. (Compare the spivak pronoun E, which is very similar, with only a small spelling difference in the nominative form.) Called the Elverson pronouns, these were "created by Christine M. Elverson of Skokie, Illinois, to win a contest in 1975. (Black, Judie, ‘Ey has a word for it’, 1975-08-23.). Promoted as preferable to other major contenders (sie, zie and singular ‘they’) by John Williams's Gender-neutral Pronoun FAQ (2004)."[33]

Use in real life and non-fiction:

  • The Elverson pronouns were used by Eric Klein in the Laws of Oceania, 1993, to be gender-inclusive in a nonfictional micronation. Sometimes this pronoun set is mistakenly called "spivak pronouns," which differ only in the nominative form.
  • In the 2019 Gender Census, about 0.1% of participants were happy for people to use Elverson pronouns when referring to them.[1]

Use in fiction:

  • CJ Carter's science fiction novel, Que Será Serees (2011) is about a species of people with a single-gender, who are all called by Elverson's "ey" pronouns. Carter encourages other authors to use these gender-neutral pronouns.[34][35]
  • In K. A. Cook's short story "Misstery Man," the self-described non-binary character Darcy asks to be called by "ey and eir" pronouns.[36]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ey laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug em.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, eir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow eirs.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds emself.

On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/ey

Fae

fae, faer, faer, faers, faerself. A fairy (faery, faerie, fey or Fair Folk) themed set created by Ciel (Tumblr user shadaras) in 2014 (or earlier?)[37] It may also have been independently coined earlier by someone else. This is the most commonly used nounself pronoun set, and it may have been created earlier than them. It may have been what inspired many people to create nounself pronouns in 2014. A similar fairy-themed set is fey, fey, feys, feys, feyself, which was recorded in 2014,[38] of unknown origin. Additionally, as coined by Esrabane in 2019 (discord user esrabane#6026) fey, feyr, feyrself. Further evidence shows use of fey, feyr, feyrself in 2018 by Kallifrey (discord user 物の哀れ#1760).

Usage:

  • In the 2019 Gender Census, 4.3% of participants were happy for people to use fae pronouns when referring to them[1]. "Fae" was the only nounself pronoun with a comparable level of popularity in that survey.

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke fae laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug faer.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, faer hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If my mobile phone runs out of power, fae lets me borrow faers.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds faerself.

On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself

Female pronouns

See She.


He

he, him, his, his, himself. Often called male pronouns, grammarians acknowledge that this standard set of pronouns can also be used as gender-neutral or gender-inclusive pronouns for unspecified persons, such as in instructions and legal documents. In the eighteenth century, when prescriptive grammarians decided that "singular they" was no longer acceptable as a gender-neutral pronoun, they instead recommended, "gender-neutral he." "Prescriptive grammarians have been calling for 'he' as the gender-neutral pronoun of choice since at least 1745, when a British schoolmistress named Anne Fisher laid down the law in A New Grammar."[3] The use of "gender-neutral he" can make problems in how laws are interpreted, because it's unclear whether it is meant to be gender-inclusive or male-only. For example, in 1927, "the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that women were not persons because its statutes referred to 'persons' with male pronouns."[39][4] In the USA in the nineteenth century, suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for laws to stop using the "gender-neutral he," because there were cases where this pronoun had been arbitrarily interpreted as a "male he" in order to exclude women from legal protections, or from the right to a license that they had passed exams for. This abuse of