Gender neutral language in German

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See also: Glossary of German gender and sex terminology

See also: Pronouns#German neutral pronouns


Gender neutral language

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 write it as -iks.

  • meiniks bestiks Freundiks

-ir, -on [3] and -chen Forms.

  • Chirurgon
  • Doktoron
  • Freundir
  • Partchen
  • Partnir
  • Witwon

Shortened Words and Nonsense Forms [4]

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.

dey

Suggested by Riley Alexis in August 2016,[5] the "dey"-pronoun seems to be the most widespread nowadays. German translation of Starfield vom Bethesda Games Studios uses 'dey'/'demm' pronouns to refer to nonbinary protagonists. Some German speaking influencers use them as their pronouns (cf. @kai.isaiah_jamal) and so do other numerous Instagram users (i. e. search for the key words 'dey/dem' in the Instagram search engine). As for series, Star Treck Discovery uses 'dey' pronouns for their nonbinary/genderless characters.[6]

sier

Ravna Marin Siever, author of the book Was wird es denn? Ein Kind! Wie geschlechtsoffene Erziehung gelingt, uses pronouns from the sier-paradigm for people to refer to them. Several books use 'sier' pronouns.[7]

xier

In the second episode (1:02) of the series City of Ghosts, i. e. Stadt der Geister in German, Thomas states that their pronoun is 'xier'. The blogger Frau Papa Nina tells in an interview from the podcast Das gewünschteste Wunschkind — hosted by Danielle Graf and Katja Seide — that they use the pronoun 'xier' for themselves.[8] Several books,[7] series[9] and video games use 'xier' pronouns. For an exhaustive list, see Xier Pronomen in Texten, Serien, Filmen und Video Games from Illi Anna Heger.[9]

hen

In the German version from Kivi & Monsterhund from Jesper Lundqvist and Bettina Johansson, the protagonist Kivi, who is referred to with the Swedish gender neutral pronoun 'hen', is referred to with the same pronoun in the German translation from Jochen Barthel.[10] 'hen' also seems to be used by some bloggers[11], instagrammers, and to be currently perceived as popular.[12][13]

en

An important number of the members of the Verein für Geschlechtsneutrales Deutsch, that is currently growing, uses the en/em forms from the De-e-System as their pronouns.[14]

Tables

The relative pronouns are all similar to the demonstrative pronouns but for the genitive, represented in the last ligne of the table.

Personal pronouns: dominant usage
Paradigm 'dey/dej'[15][16][17] 'sier' Version 2.1[18] 'xier' Version 3.3[19] 'hän'[20][21] NoNa-System[22][23] g-Genus[24] De-e-System[25]
solely referential and/or demonstrativ syncretic pronoun solely ref. demonstr. solely ref. demonstr. - solely ref. demonstr. solely ref. demonstr. solely ref. demonstr.
Nominative dey/dej sier [zi:ɐ̯] dier [di:ɐ̯] xier dier hän hen dai hen dio en de [de(:)]
Accusative dey/dej; dem(m) [dɛm] sien dien xien dien sin hen dai hen dio en de [de(:)]
Dative denen; demm[26] siem diem xiem diem sim hem dam hem dero em derm
Genitive derer/deren sieser - xieser - sirer henser dais - - enser -
Genitive: relative pronouns derer/deren deren[27] deren - - dereno dersen
'hen' paradigms
Personal pronouns: peripheral usage
Paradigm SYLVAIN-Konventionen[28] 'sir' [zi:ɐ̯][29][30] 'hen'2[31] 'el'[32][33] 'ey'[34][35]
solely referential and/or demonstrative solely ref. demonstr. solely ref. demonstr. - - -
Nominative nin din sir dier hen el ey
Accusative nin din sihn dien han en emm
Dative nim dim ihrm derm ham em emm
Genitive nimser - sihrer - - emser eyser
(almost) Indeclinable personal pronouns
Paradigm 'ens'[36][37] 'en'[13][38] 'iks'[39]
Nominative ens en iks
Accusative ens en iks
Dative ens en iks
Genitive enser enser ikser

For an exhaustive list of all existent neopronouns, see https://nibi.space/pronomen#pronomen or https://de.pronouns.page/pronomen

Possessive adjectives

For the sake of clarity, the neuter grammatical gender is omitted from this table.

Inclusive possessive adjective (possessor of any gender)
Paradigm 'dey/dej'[15][16][17] 'sier' Version 2.1[18] 'xier' Version 3.3[19] 'hän'[20][21] NoNa-System[22][23] g-Genus[24] De-e-System[25]
Gender of the possessed object masc. fem. incl. masc. fem. incl. masc. fem. incl. masc. fem. incl. masc. fem. incl. masc. fem. incl. masc. fem. incl. 3d PS incl. 1st and 2d PP
Nominative deren sies siese siesa xies xiese xiesa sir sire - hens hens hense henseo ens ense ens unse eue
Accusative siesen siese siesan xiesen xiese xiesan siren sire - hensen hense henseo ensen ense ens unse eue
Dative siesem sieser siesam xiesem xieser xiesam sirem sirer - hensem henser hensero ensem enser enserm unsererm eurerm
Genitive sieses sieser siesas xieses xieser xiesas sires sirer - henses henser hensero enses enser ensers unserers eurers

The possessiv adjectives 'deren' and 'hens' offer the advantage of being easily learnable. As for the possessives suggested by the g-Genus, aside from appearing on nonbinary grammatical websites, they don't seem to have gained much popularity on online platforms. The possessive adjectives from the 'hän' paradigm are phonetically similar to the ones of the system proposed by Kathrin Kunkel-Razum, the editor-in-chief of the Duden.[30]

Titles

Instead of Frau/Herr

  • Frann[40] - nonstandard
  • Ind.[40] von "Individuum", nonstandard
  • Mau[40] - nonstandard
  • Per - nonstandard
  • "Vorname, Nachname" - In vielen Fällen kann und sollte man anstelle eines Ehrentitels der Vor- und Nachname verwenden, z.B. "Kim Müller" statt "Frau/Herr Müller".

Professional & Academic Titles

  • Doctorx[40] - nonstandard
  • Professorx[40] - nonstandard
  • Professx[41], abgekürzt Prof. oder Profx. - nonstandard

Family and relationship terms

See also: Nichtbinäre Wörter at Nichtbinär-Wiki

Parent

  • Elter - German word for parent, will sound awkward but be recognised
  • Elta - nonstandard
  • Mapa - nonstandard
  • Pama - nonstandard
  • Wawa - nonstandard

Child

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

Aunt/Uncle

  • Eltergeschwister - nonstandard
  • Eltschwister - nonstandard
  • Onte - nonstandard
  • Pibling - nonstandard
  • Tankel - nonstandard
  • Tonke - nonstandard

Niece/Nephew

  • Nibling - nonstandard
  • Niffe - nonstandard
  • Geschwisterkind - nonstandard
  • Schwisterkind - nonstandard
  • Seitkind - nonstandard

Cousin

  • Batter
  • Cousibling
  • Cousinir
  • Couson
  • Seitschwister

Grandparent

  • Großelter - nonstandard, will sound awkward but be understood
  • Ohlta - nonstandard
  • Opma - nonstandard
  • Owa - nonstandard

Sibling

  • Bruderin, Bruder*in - nonstandard
  • Brüderin, Brüder*in - nonstandard
  • Geschwister - standard, but not commonly used
  • Geschwisterchen - standard, but old fashioned and usually used for very young siblings
  • Große/Ältere Geschwister - big/older sibling
  • Kleine/Jüngere Geschwister - little/younger sibling

Partner

  • Brautpartnir - nonstandard
  • Brautpartchen - nonstandard
  • Eheperson
  • Ehepartei
  • Eheteil
  • Eheherzmensch - married to the heart person
  • Eheperson
  • Eheherzperson
  • Freund - nonstandard
  • Freundir - nonstandard
  • Freund*in
  • Gattir - nonstandard, oldfashion, from Gattin/Gatte
  • Gema - nonstandard, oldfashion, from Gemahlin/Gemahl
  • Gespons - oldfashion
  • Heiratir - nonstandard
  • Herzmensch - literally heart person, used as a term of endearment
  • Liebschaft
  • Paarteil
  • Partchen - nonstandard
  • Partner*in
  • Partnir - nonstandard
  • Verlobtir - nonstandard

In-law

  • Schwageron - nonstandard, sibling-in-law
  • Schwiegerelter - nonstandard, parent-in-law
  • Schwiegergeschwister - nonstandard, sibling-in-law
  • Schwiegerkind - nonstandard, child-in-law
  • Schwiegerperson - in-law person
  • Schwiegschwister - nonstandard, sibling-in-law
  • Schwägir - nonstandard, sibling-in-law

Other

  • Begleitir - nonstandard neutral word for one's company/companion
  • Brautentourage - nonstandard neutral word for wedding entourage
  • Erwachsene Person - neutral word for adult
  • Hauspartnir/Hauspartchen - nonstandard neutral word for housespouse
  • Hauselter - nonstandard neutral word for houseparent
  • Jugenlicher/Jungere Person - neutral word for youth/young person
  • Köni - nonstandard neutral alternative to queen (königin) and king (könig)
  • Könilich - nonstandard neutral alternative to royal (königlich)
  • Leut - nonstandard singular version of leute
  • Leute - standard word for people
  • Prin/Kronprin - nonstandard alternatives for princess/prince and crownprincess/crownprince
  • Thronfolger - neutral word for crownprincess/crownprince
  • Regent/Monarch - standard neutral alternatives to queen and king
  • Reich - neutral alternative to kingdom (königreich)
  • Trauzeugir - nonstandard neutral alternative to trauzeugin/brautjungfern and trauzeuge(n)
  • Verehrte Publikum/Gäste/Leute - neutral alternative to "ladies and gentlemen"
  • Verheirateten - neutral alternative to married couple
  • Älterer person - neutral alternative to old woman and old man

See also

Main resources

  1. Nichtbinär-Wiki (2024): Geschlechtsneutrale Sprache. Online at: https://nibi.space/geschlechtsneutrale_sprache.
  2. Pronouns.page (2024): Liste bekannter Pronomen. Neopronomen. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/pronomen.
  3. Pronouns.page (2024): Wörterbuch für geschlechtsneutrale Sprache. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/substantive.
  4. Illi Anna Heger (2022): Pronomen wie sier und xier. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/pronomen/.
  5. Verein für geschlechtsneutrales Deutsch e. V. (2024): De-e-System. Online at: https://geschlechtsneutral.net/gesamtsystem/.

References

  1. ↑ http://feministisch-sprachhandeln.org/leitfaden/kapitel2/ Archived on 17 July 2023
  2. ↑ http://feministisch-sprachhandeln.org/leitfaden/kapitel4/ Archived on 17 July 2023
  3. ↑ https://nibi.space/nichtbin%C3%A4re_w%C3%B6rter
  4. ↑ http://nomthecatsaid.tumblr.com/post/124574373381/kennst-du-eine-gute-seite-auf-der-man-sich-%C3%BCber Archived on 17 July 2023
  5. ↑ Riley Alexis (2024): agenderbee. Online at:https://www.instagram.com/p/CZgOS9VqGWH/?igsh=MWs1eDVtYjRxMm9weA== (retrieved 21.03.2024).
  6. ↑ Heger, Illi Anna (2022): Darunter und darüber — "they" Pronomen in Filmen/Serien Deutsch übersetzen. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/darunterdarueber/ (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Heger, Illi Anna (2022): DiverserLesen. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/diverserlesen/ (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  8. ↑ Frau Papa Nina in conversation (2019): Transsexualität und Diversität. In: Graf, Danielle/Seide, Katja (hosts): Das gewünschteste Wunschkind. Der Podcast. Online at: https://plus.rtl.de/podcast/das-gewuenschteste-wunschkind-3r427sdoc4dw2/transsexualitaet-und-diversitaet-cbin4vimtsr1p (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Heger, Illi Anna (2022): Xier Pronomen in Texten, Serien, Filmen und Video Games. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/pronomentexte/ (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  10. ↑ Lundqvist, Jesper/Johansson, Bettina (2019): Kivi & Monsterhund. Berlin: Maria Benson Verlag.
  11. ↑ Annat75pyz (2023): Benutzt du das Pronomen "hen"?. Online at: https://www.gutefrage.net/sprache-literatur-raetsel/deutsche-sprache/grammatik-rechtschreibung/frage/nenutzt-du-das-pronomen-hen (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  12. ↑ Erhardt, Melissa (2022): Dey, Xier, Hen: Was es mit genderneutralen (Neo-)Pronomen auf sich hat. In: radio FM4. Online at: https://fm4.orf.at/stories/3025024/ (retrieved 09.02,2024).
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 von Usslar, Maria (2019): Er, sie, they, hen: Wie wollen Trans- und Interpersonen bezeichnet werden? In: Der Standard. Online at: https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000106804139/er-sie-they-hen-wie-wollen-trans-und-interpersonen-bezeichnet (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  14. ↑ Verein für Geschlechtsneutrales Deutsch e. V. (2024): r/geschlechtsneutral. Online at: https://www.reddit.com/r/geschlechtsneutral/ (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Anonym (2017): Q: Ein [...] gegeben. Online at: https://nonbinarytransgermany.tumblr.com/post/148742824641/ein-befreundeter-mensch-von-mir-hat-sich-mal (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Pronouns.page (2024): dey/denen/demm. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/dey/denen/demm?erweitert (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Pronouns.page (2024): dej/denen/dej. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/dej?erweitert (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Heger, Illi Anna (2022): Version 2.1: sier Pronomen ohne Geschlecht. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/pronomen21/ (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Heger, Illi Anna (2022): Version 3.3: xier Pronomen ohne Geschlecht. Online at: https://www.annaheger.de/pronomen33/ (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 zweisatz (2011): HIGH ON CLICHÉS. Glossar. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230531034450/https://highoncliches.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/glossar/ (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Pronouns.page (2024): hän/sim. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/h%C3%A4n?erweitert (retrieved 02.09.2024).
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Pronouns.page (2024): hen/hem. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/hen?erweitert (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Moro, Jona/Frank, Noah (2024): Das NoNa-System. geschlechtsneutrale deutsche Grammatik. Online at: https://geschlechtsneutralesdeutsch.com/ (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Dominik Jahre (2018): Das g-Genus. Merkmale des g-Genus. Online at: https://www.geschlechtsneutral.com/index.html (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Verein für Geschlechtsneutrales Deutsch e. V. (2024): De-e-System. https://geschlechtsneutral.net/gesamtsystem/ (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  26. ↑ Nichtbinär-Wiki (2024): Pronomen. dey. Online at: https://nibi.space/pronomen#dey (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  27. ↑ Heger, Illi Anna (2024): Personal Communication.
  28. ↑ de Sylvain, Cabala/Balzer, Carsten (2008): Die SYLVAIN-Konventionen — Versuch einer "geschlechtergerechten" Grammatik-Transformation der deutschen Sprache. Online at: https://www.geschlechtsneutral.com/lit/Liminalis-2008-Sylvain-Balzer.pdf (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  29. ↑ Nichtbinär-Wiki (2024): sir. Online at: https://nibi.space/pronomen#sir (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Berliner Morgenpost (2017): Das sagen Berliner Experten zum Streit ums dritte Geschlecht. Online at: https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/article212586881/Das-sagen-Berliner-Experten-zum-Streit-ums-dritte-Geschlecht.html (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  31. ↑ Catboy Jaebeom/Fliederfuchs (2023): ASTRI'FA | THE BEARER OF STARS. Online at: https://catboy-jaebeom.tumblr.com/about (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  32. ↑ Pronouns.page (2024): el/em. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/el?erweitert (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  33. ↑ Nichtbinär-Wiki (2024): el. Online at: https://nibi.space/pronomen#el (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  34. ↑ Pronouns.page (2024). ey/emm. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/ey?erweitert (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  35. ↑ Nichtbinär-Wiki (2024): ey/em. Online at: https://nibi.space/pronomen#eyem (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  36. ↑ Lann Hornscheidt in conversation (2021): Debatte um Gendersprache: Sie oder er oder wie? „Ich wünsche mir, dass alle erst mal ens sind“. In: Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 28.04.2021.
  37. ↑ Pronouns.page (2024): ens/ens. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/ens?erweitert (retrieved 10.02.2024).
  38. ↑ Pronouns.page (2024): en/en. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/en?erweitert (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  39. ↑ Pronouns.page (2024): iks/iks. Online at: https://de.pronouns.page/iks?erweitert (retrieved 09.02.2024).
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 40.4 Nonbinary Trans Germany, "Language." http://nonbinarytransgermany.tumblr.com/language Archived on 17 July 2023
  41. ↑ http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/wunderbar/gendertheorie-studierx-lann-hornscheidt-ueber-gerechte-sprache-a-965843.html Archived on 17 July 2023
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