Gender neutral language in German

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    Gender neutral language in German is more difficult than gender neutral language (also called gender inclusive language) in some languages, because German's grammatical gender is pervasive. See the main article on gender neutral language for general reasons to use neutral language, common problems in using it, and its use for nonbinary people.

    Nouns, Adjectives etc.

    See also: Geschlechtsneutrale Sprache at Nichtbinär-Wiki

    Asterisk, Underscore, Punctuation

    Pronounced as a pause or glottal stop. In between "feminine" and "masculine" ending, the most common version:

    • mein_e beste*r Freund:in

    Either after the stem - or more realistically at the next best place that has nothing to do with feminine/masculine forms but makes sense for pronunciation:

    • mei:ne bes_ter Freun*din

    At random places:

    • mei*ne best:er Freundi_n

    Can be used consistently or mixed up like in the example above.

    X[1]

    Pronounced like iks.[2]

    • meinx bestx Freundx

    (or e.g. Befreunx to avoid basing it on the masculine form) Or wite it as -iks.

    • meiniks bestiks Freundiks

    Shortened Words and Nonsense Forms [3]

    Fairly well known -i words:

    • der_die Studi, dix Touri

    New words by the same pattern:

    • dier Mitbewohni, der*die Kollegi

    Use the short -i forms or make up new endings and treat the word as neutrum.

    • mein bestes Freundi
    • mein liebes Mitbewohnsi

    Use -mensch, -menschi, -person:

    • das Postmenschi
    • meine Liebhabperson
    • der liebe Katzenbetreu-Mensch

    Or just random words that you think are cute.

    • Ich will Fotografierflausch werden.

    Pronouns

    See main article at German neutral pronouns.

    Titles

    Instead of Frau/Herr

    • Frann[4] - nonstandard
    • Ind.[4] von "Individuum", nonstandard
    • Mau[4] - nonstandard
    • Per - nonstandard

    Professional & Academic Titles

    • Doctorx[4] - nonstandard
    • Professorx[4] - nonstandard
    • Professx[5], abgekürzt Prof. oder Profx. - nonstandard

    Family terms

    See also: Nichtbinäre Wörter at Nichtbinär-Wiki

    Parent

    • Elter - nonstandard, will sound awkward but be recognised
    • Mapa - nonstandard
    • Pama - nonstandard

    Child

    • Enbie, Enby - instead of Mädchen/Junge/Bub, nonstandard
    • Großes - standard
    • Kind - standard
    • Kleines - standard

    Aunt/Uncle

    • Tankel - nonstandard

    Niece/Nephew

    • Nibling - nonstandard

    Grandparent

    • Großelter - nonstandard, will sound awkward but be understood

    Sibling

    • Bruderin, Bruder*in - nonstandard
    • Brüderin, Brüder*in - nonstandard
    • das Geschwister - nonstandard, will sound awkward but be understood
    • Geschwisterchen - standard, but old fashioned and usually used for very young siblings
    • der/mein Schwester - nonstandard

    Partner

    • Freund*in
    • Herzmensch
    • Liebschaft
    • Partner*in

    See also

    References