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Talk:English neutral pronouns

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Revision as of 20:28, 9 April 2020 by 73.231.181.239 (talk) (→‎case forms: new section)

Themself incorrect?

Isn't themself incorrect? The them is plural, and self is singular. It seems it should either be themselves or theirself. I think that themselves should be used because it's plural so consistent with all the other forms of this neutral pronoun: they, them, their, theirs.

The word "themself" is in the Oxford English Dictionary, which reports that it has been in use since the 14th century: https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/themself By the way, please sign your talk entries so conversations make sense later; see Help on talk pages to learn how. -Frameacloud (talk) 22:50, 27 June 2015 (CDT)
In response to your concerns, I expanded the entry for "they" to include all four versions of its reflexive form (themself, theirself, theirselves, themselves) with dictionary sources cited to demonstrate that each form is commonly used. -Frameacloud (talk) 23:14, 27 June 2015 (CDT)

Incomplete or uncited English pronouns

This section is for notable English pronouns that are missing one of the five forms. If you feel one of them belongs in the main article, find evidence of the missing pronouns and add as a citation, then move it back to the main article. If you feel that the publications a pronoun was featured in are sufficient notability, feel free to move them back to the main article.

Cassolotl (talk) 11:59, 21 May 2016 (CDT)

A

a, ?, ?, ?, ? (forms other than nominative form are not known, and might not be used). "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’.” Source: Baron, Dennis (1986). Grammar and Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03526-8. as cited by: Williams, John (1990s)." [1] Some living British dialects still use the gender-neutral "a" pronoun.[2]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke a laughs.
  • Accusative: Unknown
  • Pronominal possessive: Unknown
  • Predicative possessive: Unknown
  • Reflexive: Unknown

Why this was moved to the talk page: Some forms are unknown.

Ae

ae, aer, aer, aers, aerself. "In David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus (1920) a man from earth meets people on another planet who are neither man nor woman so he invents a new pronoun ae to refer to them."[3]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: No evidence of usage. Nonbinary Stats survey 2016 had only two respondents using it out of over 3,000.

Ala

ala, alum, alis, ?, ?. Created in 1989, "Michael Knab, of Goodwin, Knab and Co., Chicago, derives these from [Latin] al, 'other' and feels they resemble the Hawaiian sex-neutral pronouns oia, ia."[4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ala laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug alum.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, alis hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Some forms are unknown.

Ble

See racial pronouns.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Because I think if a pronoun is notable and listed it should be listed under its name in full, and a "see also: racial pronouns" added.

Bun

See nounself pronouns.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Because I think if a pronoun is notable and listed it should be listed under its name in full, and a "see also: (section)" added.

Ce

ce, cir, cir, cirs, cirself. Created by Taz (Tumblr user jackalwedding) in 2014 (or earlier?),[5] who went by these pronouns cirself.[6]

Forms:

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

On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/ce/cir/cir/cirs/cirself

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability. In the Nonbinary Stats 2016 survey, it was entered once in over 3,000 participants.[7]

Che

che, chim, chis, chis, chimself. A set of gender-neutral pronouns listed in Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage under epicene pronouns.[8]

Forms:

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

On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/che/chim/chis/chis/chimself

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability. No indication of its actual use in any literature, whether fiction or nonfiction, aside from its appearance in Merriam Webster. This leads one to suspect that it may have been a deliberately fictitious entry. Other dictionaries, such as the New Oxford American Dictionary, have been known to include fictitious entries as copyright traps. Regardless of its origins, it also doesn't seem popularly used among real nonbinary people. "Che" pronouns weren't entered in the 2015 or 2016 Nonbinary Stats surveys.

Em

em, ?, ems, ems, ?. Created in 1977 by "Jeffrey J. Smith, [who] felt strongly enough about them to start the Em Institute and put out the Em Institute Newsletter under the pseudonym 'TIN-TAJL jefry'".[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke em laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ems hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ems.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Also, some forms missing.

Et

et, et, ets, ets, etself. Created by Aline Hoffman of Sarnia, Ontario, and published in Brave New Words (1979).[4]

Forms:

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

On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/et/et/ets/ets/etself

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Fawn

See nounself pronouns.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Because I think if a pronoun is notable and listed it should be listed under its name in full, and a "see also: (section)" added.

Ha

ha, hem, hez, ?, ?. Coined in 1927, [9] and "attributed by H. L. Mencken to Lincoln King, of Primghar, Iowa."[4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ha laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hez hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Some forms missing.

He'er

he'er, him'er, his'er, his'er's, his'er'self. An inclusive pronoun that was proposed in 1912 by Ella Flagg Young.[9][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke he'er laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug him'er.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, his'er hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow his'er's.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds his'er'self.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Heesh

Several sets of pronouns use "heesh" in the nominative form, the oldest from 1934. The idea is to combine "he" and "she" to create an inclusive pronoun. In alphabetical order:


heesh, ?, heesh's, heesh's, heeshself. Poul Anderson used these in a science fiction story, The Day of Their Return (1973) to refer to a species with three sexes.[4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, heesh's hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow heesh's.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds heeshself.


heesh, herm, hiser, hisers, hermself. Created in 1978 by Leonara Timm, in the International Journal of Women's Studies.[9][4] Caution: herm is also an offensive word for an intersex person.

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug herm.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hiser hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hisers.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds hermself.


heesh, himer, hiser, ?, ?. Created in 1934.[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug himer.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hiser hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?


heesh, hir, hir, ?, ?. This was the earliest recorded example of the gender-neutral pronoun "hir" on the Internet, which was in a science fiction fan newsgroup in 1981.[10][11]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hir.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Many forms missing.

Hesh

Several sets of neologistic pronouns use "hesh" in the nominative form, in an attempt to combine "he" and "she." In alphabetical order:

hesh, himmer, hizzer, ?, ?. Created in 1927.[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hesh laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug himmer.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hizzer hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?


hesh, hiser, himer, himer, hermself. Created by feminist Jan Verley Archer in the 1975 issue of Media Report to Women.[9][4] Caution: "herm" is also an offensive word for an intersex person.

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Many forms missing.

Heshe

Several sets of neologistic pronouns use "heshe" in the nominative form, in an attempt to combine "he" and "she" to create an inclusive pronoun. Caution: "he-she" is also an offensive word for a transgender person. In alphabetical order:


heshe, hem, hes, ?, ?. Created in 1981, combining "he" and "she".[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heshe laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hes hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?


heshe, himmer, hisher, ?, ?. Created in 1977.[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heshe laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug himmer.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hisher hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Many forms missing.

Hey

hey, ?, heir, heirs, ?. Created in 1979 by Paul Encimer, with the intent to combine "he" and "their" to create an inclusive pronoun.[9][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hey laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, heir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow heirs.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Forms missing.

Hi

Several sets of gender-neutral pronouns use "hi" in the nominative form. In alphabetical order, they are:


hi, hem, hes, ?, ?. Created in 1884 by Francis H. Williams.[9][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hi laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hes hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?


hi, hir, hir, hirs, hirself. According to Kip Manley, this set of pronouns was used in some science fiction in the 1980s. However, Manley wasn't able to give any examples.[11]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Forms missing.

Hie

hie, hie (?), hiez (?), ov hie, ?. In 1914, Mont Follick created this pronoun set, based on the pronunciation of "he" pronouns. Follick proposed that we reform the language so that these replace all third person singular pronouns in English.[4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hie laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: ?
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ov hie.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Forms missing.

Ho

ho, hom, hos, ?, homself. Derived from Latin homo, "human", and the prefix homo-, "the same, equal, like." Created by Donald K. Darnell in a 1976 issue of Persons Communicating. [9][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ho laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hom.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hos hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds homself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7] Forms missing.

Hu

hu, hum, hus, hus, huself. A set of gender-neutral "humanist" pronouns, based on the word "human". "Used in several college humanities texts published by Bandanna Books. Originated by editor Sasha Newborn in 1982."[12] The creation of these pronouns is also attributed to "DeAnn DeLuna, who teaches literature at Johns Hopkins University," who pronounces them like "huh." When DeLuna "recently edited a book of essays about historian J.G.A. Pocock [she] insisted that the book's writers use the [hu] pronoun," and many people use the hu pronouns "in the online forums of the Chronicle of Higher Education's Web site."[13] Jake Shivery runs a small web-site about the hu pronoun, hupronoun.org, which says it's pronounced "hyu," like the beginning of the word "human."

Forms:

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

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was entered only once in over 3,000 participants in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Id

id, idre, ids, ids, idself. Used by Laurie Marks for characters of a genderless species in all three books of the Children of the Triad fantasy novel series: Delan the Mislaid (1989), The Moonbane Mage (1990), and Ara's Field (1991). Marks uses these pronouns for the title character and protagonist of the first book.[14]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Ip

ip, ip, ips, ips, ipsself. Proposed in 1884 by Emma Carleton, probably derived from "it."[9][4]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was entered only once in over 3,000 participants in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Ir

ir, im, iro, iros, iroself. A set of English gender-neutral pronouns from 1888.[8][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ir laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug im.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, iro hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow iros.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds iroself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Kai

kai, kaim, kais, kais, kaiself. A set of English gender-neutral pronouns created by novelist Janet Ganus for nonbinary characters, in 1998 or earlier.[8] Ganus also created a matching gender-neutral title, Kaiet, which is also a proper noun that serves the gender-neutral counterpart of "man" or "woman."

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Le

le, lem, les, les, lesself. A set of English gender-neutral pronouns proposed in 1884 by Edgar Alfred Stevens, borrowed from French.[8][4]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Na

na, nan, nan, nan's, naself. June Arnold's story The Cook and the Carpenter, 1973, used this set of pronouns exclusively, for all people. Arnold may have created the pronouns.[15]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke na laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug nan.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, nan hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow nan's.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds naself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Re

re, erm, rees, rees, ?. In 2002, atheist activist Mike Newdow proposed these to replace all use of "he" and "she" pronouns.[16]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke re laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug erm.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, rees hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow rees.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Set is incomplete.

Se

There are several similar sets that use "se" in the nominative form, the oldest of which was created in 1938. A list of its versions in alphabetical order:


se, ?, ?, ?, ?. Created in 1975.[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: ?
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?


se, hir, hir, hirs, hirself. In Richard Lupoff's short science fiction story "With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Ol' New Alabama" (1977?), Lupoff used these pronouns for an entity comprised of a female extraterrestrial being inhabiting a dead male human body.[17] In 1992, this set of gender-neutral pronouns was commonly used on the Internet in newsgroups such as alt.sex.bondage.[4]

Forms:

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


se, sem, ses, ?, ?. Created in 1990.[9] Used for non-dyadic characters in Glenn Grant's story Memetic Drift, "published in Interzone magazine #34, March/April 1990; reprinted in Northern Stars: The Anthology of Canadian Science Fiction, Tor hardcover, 1994, edited by the author and G. Hartwell."[15]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug sem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ses hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?


se, sim, ser, ?, simself. Created in 1973 by William Cowan, of the Department of Linguistics, Carleton University.[9][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug sim.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ser hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds simself.

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


se, sim, sis, ?, ?. Created in 1938 by Gregory Hynes.[9][4]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug sim.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, sis hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Set is incomplete. None were entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Peh

peh, pehm, ?, peh's, ?. Used by Jenn Manley Lee in a science fiction graphic novel, Dicebox, as a gender non-specific pronoun, for when a person's gender is either irrelevant or nonbinary.[18][19]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke peh laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug pehm.
  • Pronominal possessive: ?
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow peh's.
  • Reflexive: ?

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Set is incomplete. None were entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Phe

phe, per, per, pers, perself. In Katherine Phelps's 1998 retelling of The Odyssey, Oddyseus, She, in which the genders of people are reversed, Phelps uses these gender-neutral pronouns for deities, because the deities' "specific gender or shape are completely optional." Like Piercy's similar per pronouns, Phelps's "phe" pronouns are "based on the shortening of 'person.'[20][21]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Shey

shey, shem, sheir, sheirs, sheirself. The same set was independently created (or perhaps only used) in 1973, 1979, and 1982.[9][4] The idea is to combine "she" and "they."

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke shey laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug shem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, sheir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow sheirs.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds sheirself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Shem

shem, hem, hes, ?, ?. Created in 1974.[9]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke shem laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hes hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete.

Sie

sie, hir, hir, hirs, hirself. Pronounced like either "she" and "her," or "see" and "hear." Derived from German pronouns for "she" and "they." [8] Since the early 1990s, this set has been widely used on the Internet for gender-neutral language when speaking of no specific person, for nonbinary gender characters, and by nonbinary gender people themselves. Use in fiction: Elizabeth Bear used these pronouns in a fantasy novel, Dust.[22]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Splat

See *E.

Tey

tey, tem, ter, ters, temself. A set of gender-neutral pronouns, proposed by feminists Casey Miller and Kate Swift in the 1971 December issue of Ms in earnest as a strategy to avoid "pronoun abuse" (meaning the inappropriate use of male pronouns when it would make more sense to include women as well), as one of many strategies to reduce sexist language. Later, they advocated instead for more widespread use of "he or she" for that purpose.[23]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke tey laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug tem.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ter hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ters.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds temself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

The

See þe or 3e.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

V

v, v, v's, v's, ?. In 2011, trans writer, singer, and artist Mx Justin Vivian Bond created this set of pronouns for people to use in reference to Bond. Bond created v's own set of pronouns, because v wasn't satisfied with any other gender-neutral pronouns that v had heard of. Bond wrote, "So what I’ve come up with is 'v'. Since my name is Justin Vivian Bond and since Vivian begins with a V and visually a V is two even sides which meet in the middle I would like v to be my pronoun."[24]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke v laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug 'v.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, v's hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow v's.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Xie

xie, ?, hir, hirs, ?. Sarka-Jonae Miller made a Change.org petition asking for Dictionary.com to include these as gender-neutral pronouns, saying these are "widely used by LGBT community members and others who wish to refer to individuals as a person instead of as a gender." The petition didn't give all the forms of these pronouns.[25] Presumably these are a spelling variant of "xe, hir" or "ze, hir" pronouns.

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke xie laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow xirs.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Zhe

zhe, zhim, zher, zhers, ?. (Compare similar pronoun sets such as xe, ze, and zie.) Created by Fred Foldvary in 2002 as a gender-neutral or inclusive pronoun. In this case, the Z is pronounced differently. Foldvary wrote, "I offer the words zhe, zher, and zhim, where the 'zh' is pronounced as in the second 'g' of garage or the 'z' in azure. 'Zhe' means either he or she for the subject of a sentence. 'Zher' is the possessive 'him' or 'her.' 'Zhim' is the accusative or object of a sentence, meaning either 'him' or 'her.'"[26] Foldvary went on to give some use examples, but didn't give a reflexive form of the pronoun. In 2014, Deborah Rogers mentioned having a student who asked to be called by these pronouns.[27]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke zhe laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug zhim.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, zher hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow zhers.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Ze

ze, em, zeir, zeirs, zeirself. Singer songwriter Jennifer Moore (memevector) invented these "memevector pronouns" in 2002. They are meant to sound similar to how other pronouns are pronounced in casual conversation. They are meant to be gender-free pronouns.[28][29]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

-

ze, mer, mzer, zers, zemself. Created earlier than 1997. Proposed by Richard E. Creel, a professor teaching philosophy of religion courses, to refer a person of any gender, and specifically to God. This was meant to help scholars think of God as neither male nor female. Creel said the M in "mer" comes from that in "him."[30].

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ze laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug mer.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, mzer hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow zers.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds zemself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

-

ze, zim, zees, zees, zeeself. Created in 1972 by Steven Polgar of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, explaining that it is based on the German pronoun sie. This was printed in the Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association.[31][4]

Forms:

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

Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Þe

þe, þim, þir, þirs, ?. A non-standard set of gender-neutral pronouns created by John Newmeyer, Ph.D, of San Francisco, and printed in The People's Almanac #2 (1978). Newmeyer also created a proper noun for a person whose gender isn't specified, as a counterpart to the nouns "man" and "woman:" þane, or "thane."[4] These use the Old English letter þ, called "thorn," which represents an unvoiced "th" sound, as in the English word "thin." "Thane" is derived from an English word for a specific kind of land-owner, who historically would have been only male.

In fiction: In Melissa Scott's science fiction novel Shadow Man (1995), this is one of the pronouns used for a specific intersex sex/gender.[32]

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke þe laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug þim.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, þir hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow þirs.
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Ȝe

3e, 3im, 3er, 3ers, 3imself. In Melissa Scott's science fiction novel Shadow Man (1995), intersex conditions have become so common that society categorizes people into five sexes (and five corresponding genders), each with their own set of pronouns.[33] Scott says the novel's concept is inspired by feminist Anne Fausto-Sterling's plea for recognition of the existence of intersexuality, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough" (1993).[34] In Scott's novel, the people use 3e pronouns for those of the "herm" gender. Although the first consonant looks similar to a 3, and may be printed as such, it is a letter from Middle English called "yogh," and Scott meant it to be pronounced like a Z.[35] Compare similar "ze, zim" pronouns.

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke 3e laughs.
  • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug 3im.
  • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, 3er hair grows long.
  • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow 3ers.
  • Reflexive: Each child feeds 3imself.

Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

Ðe

ðe, ?, ?, ?, ?. In Melissa Scott's science fiction novel Shadow Man (1995), this is one of the pronouns used for a specific intersex sex which, in that culture, has its own corresponding gender.[36][37] This pronoun uses an Old English letter named "eth," pronounced like the "th." Compare similar þe pronouns.

Forms:

  • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ðe laughs.
  • Accusative: ?
  • Pronominal possessive: ?
  • Predicative possessive: ?
  • Reflexive: ?

Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[7]

case forms

Could detail please be provided on the case forms of all of these words? A chart with both possesives, the subject and object, as well as the reflexive forms woud be very nice.

  1. ↑ "History - Native-English GNPs". Gender-Neutral Pronoun FAQ. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
  2. ↑ "Epicene pronouns." American Heritage Book of English Usage. http://web.archive.org/web/20080630041424/http://www.bartleby.com/64/C005/004.html
  3. ↑ Suzanne Romaine, Communicating Gender. p. 343.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 Dennis Baron, "The Epicene Pronouns: A chronology of the word that failed." http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/epicene.htm
  5. ↑ Ask A Nonbinary's Credits page, captured March 2016.
  6. ↑ http://jackalwedding.tumblr.com/about+taz
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 7.29 7.30 7.31 7.32 7.33 NB/GQ Survey 2016 - the worldwide results, March 2016.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "GNP FAQ", archive Feb 29 2012
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named aetherlumina listing 2
  10. ↑ https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fa.sf-lovers/HTiZ7_xKlHI/vEG69AjYi7kJ
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Kip Manley, "Sexing the pronoun."
  12. ↑ "Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns." Retrieved June 30, 2014. [1]
  13. ↑ William Weir, "Gender issues meet the pronoun problem, again." June 25, 2007. Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/life/article/Gender-issues-meet-the-pronoun-problem-again-1817725.php
  14. ↑ All our worlds: Diverse fantastic fiction. http://doublediamond.net/aow
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named aetherluminarefs
  16. ↑ Evelyn Nieves, "'Under God' iconoclast looks to next targets." The New York Times. July 1, 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/01/national/01PLED.html
  17. ↑ Dog Friendly, "Origin of 'hir' - gender neutral pronoun? " February 7, 2007. Snopes forum. http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=3032
  18. ↑ "Organized by pronoun." Gender neutral pronoun blog. https://genderneutralpronoun.wordpress.com/links/organized-by-pronoun/
  19. ↑ Kip Manley, "Kelly J. Cooper knows the score." http://longstoryshortpier.com/2003/03/02/kelly_j_cooper_knows_the_score (see second paragraph)
  20. ↑ Katherine Phelps, "Gender Free Pronouns." May 1998. http://www.glasswings.com.au/Storytronics/Odysseus/notes/pronouns.htm
  21. ↑ "Organized by pronoun." Gender neutral pronoun blog. https://genderneutralpronoun.wordpress.com/links/organized-by-pronoun/
  22. ↑ All our worlds: Diverse fantastic fiction. http://doublediamond.net/aow
  23. ↑ Elizabeth Isele, "Casey Miller and Kate Swift: Women Who Dared To Disturb the Lexicon." Women in Literature and Life Assembly, Vol. 3, Fall 1994. [2]
  24. ↑ Justin Vivian Bond, "Bio." http://justinbond.com/?page_id=323
  25. ↑ Sarka-Jonae Miller, "Show respect to all people by adding gender neutral pronouns to dictionaries." https://www.change.org/p/dictionary-com-show-respect-to-all-people-by-adding-gender-neutral-pronouns-to-dictionaries
  26. ↑ Fred Foldvary, "Zhe, zher, zhim." July 1, 2002. The Progress Report. http://www.progress.org/archive/zhe-zher-zhim
  27. ↑ Deborah Rogers, "'They' has arrived at the pronoun party." December 4, 2014. Times Higher Education. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/opinion/they-has-arrived-at-the-pronoun-party/2017278.article#.VIHr5bJE0lk.facebook
  28. ↑ "Pronouns." Footnotes. 2003. Retrieved 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20090414130833/http://footnotes.jinkies.org.uk/pronouns.html
  29. ↑ Jennifer Moore (memevector), "Pronouns." February 20, 2002. Livejournal. Blog post. http://memevector.livejournal.com/1089.html
  30. ↑ In Richard E. Creel, “Ze, zer, mer,” APA Newsletters 97: 1 (Fall 1997)
  31. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120229202924/http:/aetherlumina.com/gnp/listing.html]
  32. ↑ Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, eds. Edging Into The Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation. p. 110.
  33. ↑ Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Post-binary gender in SF: Shadow Man by Melissa Scott." April 8, 2014. Tor. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/04/post-binary-gender-in-sf-shadow-man-by-melissa-scott
  34. ↑ Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, eds. Edging Into The Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation. p. 109.
  35. ↑ Patricia Melzer, Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought. University of Texas, 2010. Unpaged.
  36. ↑ Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, eds. Edging Into The Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation. p. 110.
  37. ↑ Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Post-Binary Gender in SF: ExcitoTech and Non-Binary Pronouns." June 3, 2014. Tor. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/06/post-binary-gender-in-sf-excitotech-and-non-binary-pronouns
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