Nonbinary Wiki

Gender neutral language

Revision as of 21:58, 29 January 2019 by Falkirks (talk | contribs) (→‎Spanish)

Template:Information Required Gender-neutral language, also called gender-inclusive language, is the practice of using words that don't give an idea of someone being female or male. For example, the word "fireman" gives the idea that a person in that work is male. An offer for a job as a "cleaning lady" gives the idea that only a woman should do the job. The gender-neutral alternatives are to say "fire fighter" and "janitor," respectively. Then it is easier to see that these jobs can be done by a person of any gender. Gender-neutral language is important in feminism, because changing the way that people talk can help make sexist ideas less common. For example, the sexist idea that some jobs should only be done by people of certain genders.

Gender-neutral language is also important to many people who have non-binary gender identities. For one reason, this kind of talk helps fight against nonbinary erasure, which is the common but wrong and sexist idea that there are only two genders. Since gender-neutral language doesn't give the idea that a person is male or female, it can also apply to people who identify as other genders, outside of the gender binary. Non-binary people can ask to be talked about in this way.

Chinese

See also: Glossary of Chinese gender and sex terminology.

Pronouns

  • tā. Verbally all gendered pronouns sound the same, and so they technically can be gender neutral.

Titles

  • 先生 (xian sheng). A gender neutral term to refer to a teacher, a new acquaintance with whom you are unfamiliar, or anyone with whom you are not on a first-name basis, though it is usually masculine-based.
  • 师傅 (shi fu). A gender neutral term, though it is usually masculine-based, conveying respect to someone if you don't know their name, and it means "master."
  • 老师 (lao shi). Standard word for teacher.
  • 博士 (bo shi). Standard word for professor.
  • 老板 (lao ban). Standard term for one's boss (say at work).

Family Terms

  • 孩子 (hai zi). Standard gender neutral term for child.

Professions

  • 服务员 (fu wu yuan). Standard word for server and/or gender neutral term for waiter/waitress.

Dutch

Family terms

Parent

  • Ouder. Neutral, formal.

Child

  • Baby. Standard neutral word for very young offspring or very young people.
  • Jonkie. Standard neutral word for young people.
  • Kind. Standard gender neutral word for a young person or an offspring. Implied age isn't adult, but may be.
  • Kleintje. Literally "little one", neutral word for a very young child or young offspring.
  • Kleuter. Neutral word for child that is ~3 to ~6 years old.
  • Peuter. Neutral word for child that is ~1 to ~3 years old.
  • Tiener. Neutral word for a child that is ~10 to ~18 years old.


English

See also: Glossary of English gender and sex terminology.

English has grammatical gender, but only a vestige of what it once had. Old English once had grammatical gender for inanimate objects, but this practice started to disappear in the 700s, and vanished in the 1200s. The population of England at that time spoke several languages, and the same inanimate objects had different genders in those different languages. They may have stopped using that part entirely just to make it simpler. English stopped using grammatical gender for inanimate objects, but it still uses grammatical gender for people and personal pronouns.[1] There is enough to make a challenge for nonbinary people who don't want gendered language to be used for them.

Gender-neutral language has become common in English today largely thanks to the pioneering work by feminists Casey Miller and Kate Swift. During the 1970s, they began the work of encouraging inclusive language, as an alternative to sexist language that excludes or dehumanizes women. Miller and Swift wrote a manual on gender-neutral language, The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing (1980). Miller and Swift also proposed a set of gender-neutral pronouns, tey, although they later favored singular they, or he or she.[2] There are several books on gender-neutral English, such as Rosalie Maggio's book The Nonsexist Word Finder: A Dictionary of Gender-Free Usage (1989).

Much of the language that is often called gender-neutral has a problem: it's more than a little bit male. This is the problem that the gender-neutral he pronoun, "you guys," and similar kinds of language have in common. "Linguists call male terms used to include females androcentric generics."[3] Androcentric generics have several problems. It can be arbitrarily seen as either including women or excluding women depending on whims, which has made trouble for women when it happens in legal documents. It can also give the impression that someone is in some way male, which can be unclear or insulting to people of other genders.

Much of other gender-neutral language has a problem: it gives the idea that female and male are the only genders. For example, calling an unspecified person by he or she pronouns, a speaker addressing "ladies and gentlemen," an invitation saying "both genders welcome," and so on. Much of Western society thinks this is inclusive enough, because it doesn't know there are other genders. This language excludes nonbinary people, who would prefer an unspecified person to be called "they" rather than "he or she," would prefer a speaker to address "the audience," and an invitation saying "all genders welcome."

This is a list of both standard (dictionary) and non-standard (created) terms and pronouns to include nonbinary identities. It should be noted that while some are genderless or third gender, others are multigender. Terms will be marked with the implied gender identity when possible.

Pronouns

See main article at Pronouns.

Some examples of inclusive or alternative pronouns:

they them theirs themself
e em es emself
ey em eirs eirself
ze hir hirs hirself
xe per pers perself
sie hum hus huself
xhe herm herms hermself
thee ther thers therself

(hir is pronounced "here")

rows: singular they, spivak (rogers), ze/hir, xe/per, sie/hum, 6) xhe/herm, thee/ther

Titles

See main article at Gender neutral titles.

Family and relationship words

See also: family and intimacy.

Parent

Parents as in the formal words mother or father, or the informal mama or dada. Gender-neutral and gender-inclusive words for a parent of any gender, or non-standard specifically nonbinary, queer, or genderqueer words. A list in alphabetical order.

  • Baba. "Neutral, based on mama and papa. Can call to mind the children's character Babar, or the monster Babadook (Note, baba means dad in some languages and grandmother in others.)"[4]
  • Bibi. "Queer, based on the B in NB [nonbinary], similar to mama and papa/dada."[5]
  • Cenn. "Neutral, short for cennend," which see.[6]
  • Cennend. "Neutral, Old English (Anglo-Saxon) meaning parent."[7]
  • Dommy. "Queer, mixture of mommy and daddy (note: sounds like Dom/me, a BDSM term)."[8]
  • Mad. Queer, mixture of mom and dad.
  • Mada. Queer, mixture of mama and dad.
  • Maddy. "Queer, mixture of mom and daddy. Used by author Jennifer Finney Boylan. "[9]
  • Moddy. "Queer, mixture of mom and daddy."[10]
  • Momo. Japanese word for peaches. This is also a South Asian dumpling. Momo looks like ‘mom’ in English, but with a more masculine ‘o’ ending.
  • Moppa. Queer, mixture of mom and poppa. Used in the show Transparent
  • Muddy. "Queer, mixture of mum and daddy."[11]
  • Nini. "Queer, based on the N in NB, similar to mama and papa/dada."[12]
  • Non. Follows a similar pattern (CvC) to Mom or Dad, could be short for "nonbinary". Variation Nonny for use with young children, similar to Mommy or Daddy.
  • Par. "Neutral, short for parent."[13]
  • Pare/Pair. "Depending on spelling, this can be a shortening of the word "parent" or the "pair" to another parent or to the child. This can also reference an au pair. An au pair is a live in childcare worker, but the term means "equal to", implying that one is equal to a mother or father. An au pair is usually a woman, but not always. The title could also call to mind the French word for father, or the fruit as a general affectionate nickname"
  • Parent. "Neutral, formal."[14]
  • Parental Unit (PU). Neutral, informal, humorous, possibly disrespectful. Used by the alien family in Coneheads, and taken up by popular culture.[15]
  • Per. "Neutral, short for parent."[16] (See also: per pronouns and Pr title.)
  • Poppy. "Pop" and variations thereof are sometimes used to refer to one's father and adding a "y" to the end of a parental title is common and affectionate. Poppy is also a type of flower and a woman's name.
  • Poppet. British endearment for a child or woman. "Pop" is a word for one's father and "et" is generally a diminutive ending.
  • Ren/Renny Neutral, short for paRENt, can be used in place of mom/mommy/dad/daddy. Ren is also a name and a somewhat relevant Confucian ideal.
  • Zaza. "Queer, based on mama and papa/dada."[17]
  • Zither. "Queer, based on mother and father. "[18]

Child

Some of these gender-inclusive or gender-queer words refer only to relationship (as in daughter, son, or offspring), others only to age (girl, boy, or young one), and some to both (children). Alphabetical order.

  • Baby. Standard neutral word for very young offspring or very young people, often younger than one year old.
  • Bitsy. Non-standard genderqueer term for a very young person. Spike calls Dawn "little bit" in BtVS [19]
  • Charge. Standard gender neutral word for a person in the care of another, often one's child.
  • Child. Standard gender neutral word for a young person or an offspring. Implied age isn't adult, but may be.
  • Dependent. A person who relies on another-- usually a family member who may or may not be their parent-- for financial support; this is most often used as a standard gender-neutral word for a child too young to work. Formal.
  • Eldest. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my eldest," rather than saying "my daughter/son."
  • Enby. From "NB (nonbinary)", a nonbinary equivalent of the words "boy" and "girl." However, some adults call themselves enbies.
  • Get. Poetic language for offspring.
  • Kid. Standard informal gender neutral term for young children or young offspring.
  • Little one. Neutral word for a very young child or young offspring.
  • Lun. Conjunction of the words "loved one". Alternative to "daughter/son".
  • Minor. Standard gender-neutral word for a person under the legal age of consent.
  • Nesser/Nessie. Non-standard genderqueer term for "daughter/son".[20]
  • Nore. This word was voted for by an online trans community. "Nore" is derived from the sentence "I am neither a boy nor a girl". The word also has letters from the words "non-binary" or "neutrality", "boy", "girl", and "enby" which can represent non-binary people being a mix of masculine and feminine, both, or neither. The word was made not to replace the popularized word "enby", but to stand by it as a more formal alternative to girl/boy, since "enby" was considered to be too "cute".
  • Offspring. Neutral, standard word, but not usually used for people, except in legal language.
  • Oldest. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my oldest," rather than saying "my daughter/son."[21]
  • Poppet. British endearment for a child or young woman.
  • Sprog. Neutral, crude word for a young person.[22]
  • Sprout. A young growing plant, can refer to one's child. The Hufflepuff professor from Harry Potter was called Professor Sprout.
  • Youth. Neutral, poetic word for a young person, but usually implied to be male.
  • Young. Neutral, standard word for offspring, but not usually used for people ("my young.")
  • Youngest. Neutral, a way of speaking of one's offspring by saying "my youngest" rather than saying "my daughter/son."[23]
  • Youngling. Gender neutral term for young children (best known from Star Wars, but also attended centuries earlier, with reference to a male [baby Jesus] in the lyrics of The Coventry Carol).
  • Youngster. A word for a child, usually older than "baby" and a few years younger than "adult".
  • Young one. Neutral, poetic.
  • Young person. Neutral, standard, formal.
  • Ward. Standard gender-neutral word for a person, usually a child, under the care of an adult, who may or may not be their parent. Formal.

Sibling

Gender-neutral or genderqueer words for sibling. Alphabetical order.

  • Emmer. Non-standard genderqueer term for sibling (emmer-ald, emm, emmy).
  • Bro. Short for brother. This one is taking advantage of sexism/ the male standard in language to use a more masculine term as a way to casually refer to siblings in general. The casualness of the abbreviation might make it slightly less gendered than the full word ‘brother’. Sometimes people associate ‘bro’ with fraternities and irresponsibility.
  • Broster. This can be a mashup of ‘brother’ and ‘sister’. It can also come from ‘bro’ with the suffix ‘ster’ added. Some people might associate ‘broster’ with ‘bro’.
  • Sib. Short for sibling. Equivalent of bro or sis. "Sibby" could be a casual form.
  • Sibling. Standard gender neutral term for sister or brother.
  • Sibster. "Queer, combination of sibling and sister."[24]
  • Sibler. "Queer, combination of sibling and brother/sister."[25]
  • Sibber. Combination of Sibling and broth/sist-er
  • Twin. Gender neutral term for sister or brother of the same age.

Aunt/Uncle

Standard English doesn't have a gender neutral word for one's parent's sibling. People have created some words to fill this lexical gap, but they are still uncommon words. Alphabetical order.

  • Aunbie. Queer, combination of auntie, uncle, and NB for non-binary.
  • Auncle. "Queer, combination of aunt and uncle."[26]
  • Aunkie. Combination of Auntie and Uncle
  • Bibi. "Queer, based on the B in NB [nonbinary], similar to Titi/Zizi."[27]
  • Cousin. "Neutral, as sometimes people say aunt/uncle for parents’ cousins, or much older cousins. Some prefer to use the word cousin as a general term for extended family."[28]
  • Nini. "Queer, based on the N in NB, similar to Titi/Zizi."[29]
  • Ommer. Non-standard genderqueer term for "aunt/uncle". In programming, Ommer is a node's parent's siblings, or more generally a child of an ancestor that is not itself an ancestor. If A is an ommer of B, B is a nibling (niece/nephew) of A. "Ommie" could be an affectionate derivative.
  • Pibling. "Neutral, your parent’s sibling."[30]
  • Sibren. Sibling + Parent.
  • Titi. "Neutral, from the Spanish for Aunt (Tia) and Uncle (Tio). (however, it is often a diminutive of aunt.)"[31]
  • Zizi. "Neutral, from the Italian for Aunt (Zia) and Uncle (Zio). (Note: zizi is also a French children’s ‘cute’ word for penis.)"[32]
  • Untie/Unty. "Queer, combination of uncle and auntie/aunty."[33]

Niece/Nephew

Standard English doesn't have a gender neutral word for one's sibling's child. People have created some words to fill this lexical gap, but they are still uncommon words. Alphabetical order.

  • Chibling. "Neutral, the children of you sibling."[34]
  • Cousin. "Neutral, as sometimes people say niece/nephew for cousins’ children, much younger cousins or as a general term for extended family."[35]
  • Nibling. Non-standard gender neutral term for "niece/nephew". Coined by linguist Samuel E. Martin in 1951 from nephew/niece by analogy with sibling.
  • Nibblet. Term of affection for a young one. Sounds similar to "nibling". Spike called Dawn this in BtVS.
  • Nessie. "Mixture of nephew and niece."[36]
  • Nieph. "Queer, mixture of niece and nephew."[37]
  • Niephling. Non-standard gender neutral term for "niece/nephew".
  • Nephling. Non-standard gender neutral term for "niece/nephew".
  • Neph. "Short for 'nephew'. Casualness of the term makes it somewhat less gendered."
  • Nephie. Casual, Nephew & Niece
  • Niephew. From Nephew and Niece
  • Nesyew. From Nephew and Niece
  • Sibskid. "Neutral, short for sibling’s kid."[38]

Grandparent

Gender-neutral or genderqueer words for grandparent. Alphabetical order.

  • Baba. "Neutral, based on mama and papa. Can call to mind the children's character Babar, or the monster Babadook (Note, baba means dad in some languages and grandmother in others.)"[39]
  • Bibi. "Queer, based on the B in NB, similar to nana and papa."[40]
  • Granba. Neutral, combines the NB of non-binary with grandma and grandpa.
  • Granby. Neutral, casual, combines the NB of non-binary with granny.
  • Granpare. Pare can be a shortening of the word "parent". The title sounds similar to the french word for grandfather.
  • Grandparent. "Neutral, formal."[41]
  • Grandren. Neutral form based on ren/renny as a neutral term for parents.
  • Grandwa. "Queer, based on grandma and grandpa."[42]
  • Grandy. "Neutral, short for Grandparent, Grandma or Grandpa."[43]
  • Nini. "Queer, based on the N in NB, similar to nana and papa."[44]


Date

Gender-neutral and genderqueer words for a non-committed relationship, such as boyfriend, girlfriend, or date. Alphabetical order.

  • Beau. Originally meant boyfriend, suitor or an admirer. A fashionable young dandy. Literal meaning is handsome/good looking. Could now be applied to other genders, particularly with the popularity of "boo".
  • Cuddle Buddy. "Neutral, cheesy."[45]
  • Date. "Neutral, the person you are dating."[46]
  • Datemate. "Neutral, a rhyming version of datefriend, the person you are dating."[47]
  • Enbyfriend. From NB, the initials of Non-binary.
  • Valentine. An admirer, suitor or date around Valentine's day.


Partner

Gender-inclusive or genderqueer words for tentative romantic and sexual partners (as in girlfriend, boyfriend, or date) as well as permanent ones (as in wife, husband, or spouse).

  • Beau. Originally meant boyfriend, suitor or an admirer. A fashionable young dandy. Literal meaning is handsome/good looking. Could now be applied to other genders, particularly with the popularity of "boo".
  • Birlfriend. "Queer, mix of boyfriend and girlfriend."[48] Birl is also a particular gender identity.
  • Boo. From "beau". Originated as African American slang, but now used more widely.
  • Boifriend. "Queer, boi is a particular gender identity."[49]
  • Bothfriend. "Queer, for bigender or androgynous people."[50]
  • Boygirlfriend. "Queer, for bigender or androgynous people."[51]
  • Companion. "Neutral, reference to Doctor Who’s companions, or Firefly’s Companions."[52]
  • Datefriend. "Neutral, the person you are dating, but fitting the boyfriend/girlfriend pattern."[53]
  • Datemate. "Neutral, a rhyming version of datefriend, the person you are dating."[54]
  • Enbyfriend. "Queer, based on boyfriend and girfriend. (note: enby comes from NB, non-binary)."[55]
  • Feyfriend. Queer, due to the implications of "fey."[56]
  • Genderfriend. "Queer, based on boyfriend and girlfriend."[57]
  • Girlboyfriend. "Queer, for bigender or androgynous people."[58]
  • Goyfriend. A mashup of girl/boy-friend. Used by Ali Stroker in reference to her Glee Project costar and partner Dani Shay. (Goy is also a Jewish term for a person who is not Jewish, so this term could be confusing or misleading.)
  • Honey. An endearment used for one's partner.
  • Imzadi. "Neutral, from Star Trek, a Betazed word similar to beloved."[59]
  • Love. Refers to someone you love/who loves you. Calling someone "love" is usually casual and is often applied to women. Calling someone or referring to someone as "my love" is usually romantic and is applied to either gender.
  • Loveperson. "Neutral, a person that you love."[60]
  • Lover. "Neutral, often implies sexual relationship, but simply refers to someone you love/who loves you."[61]
  • [name]friend. "Queer, based on girlfriend and boyfriend."[62]
  • Norefriend.
  • Paramour. "Neutral, someone you are having a sexual relationship with."[63]
  • Personfriend. "Neutral, leaning towards queer, based on boyfriend and girlfriend."[64]
  • Partner. Neutral, often queer. There can be ambiguity between "partner" referring to a business or romantic partner.
  • Special Friend. Casual, implying a different/more intense relationship than a normal friendship.
  • Sweetie. "Neutral, slightly cheesy."[65]
  • Sweetheart. "Neutral, cheesy or old-fashioned."[66]
  • Theyfriend. A mashup of the common gender neutral pronoun "they" and the -friend suffix in boyfriend and girlfriend.
Significant other

Gender-neutral and genderqueer words for a girlfriend, boyfriend, or partner in a committed relationship. Alphabetical order.

  • Beau. Originally meant boyfriend, suitor or an admirer. A fashionable young dandy. Literal meaning is handsome/good looking. Could now be applied to other genders, particularly with the popularity of "boo".
  • Beloved. Neutral, one who one loves.
  • Better Half. "Neutral, informal, and implies monogamy."
  • Boifriend. "Queer, boi is a particular gender identity."[67]
  • Boo. From "beau". Originated as African American slang, but now used more widely.
  • Companion. "Neutral, reference to Doctor Who’s companions, or Firefly’s Companions."[68]
  • Enbyfriend. "Queer, based on boyfriend and girfriend. (note: enby comes from NB, non-binary)."[69]
  • Goyfriend. A mashup of girl/boy-friend. Used by Ali Stroker in reference to her Glee Project costar and partner Dani Shay. (Goy is also a Jewish term for a person who is not Jewish, so this term could be confusing or misleading.)
  • Gulfriend.Queer, from boy/girl-friend.
  • Honey. An endearment used for one's partner.
  • Imzadi. "Neutral, from Star Trek, a Betazed word similar to beloved."[70]
  • [name]friend. "Queer, based on girlfriend and boyfriend."[71]
  • Love. Refers to someone you love/who loves you. Calling someone "love" is usually casual and is often applied to women. Calling someone or referring to someone as "my love" is usually romantic and is applied to either gender.
  • Other Half. "Neutral, informal, and implies monogamy."[72]
  • Paramour. "Neutral, someone you are having a sexual relationship with."[73]
  • Partner. Neutral, but often queer.
  • Personfriend. "Neutral, leaning towards queer, based on boyfriend and girlfriend."[74]
  • Significant Other (S.O.). "Neutral, formal."[75] Implies monogamy.
  • Soul Mate. "Neutral, slightly cheesy, implies belief in soul mates."[76] Implies monogamy.
  • Steady. "Neutral, as in 'going steady' or 'steady girlfriend/boyfriend'."[77] Implies monogamy.
  • Sweetie. "Neutral, slightly cheesy."[78]
  • Sweetheart. "Neutral, cheesy or old-fashioned."[79]
  • Theyfriend. A mashup of the common gender neutral pronoun "they" and the -friend suffix in boyfriend and girlfriend.
Fiancée/Fiancé

Words for engaged partners

  • Beau. Originally meant boyfriend, suitor or an admirer. A fashionable young dandy. Literal meaning is handsome/good looking. Could now be applied to other genders, particularly with the popularity of "boo".
  • Betrothed. "Neutral, formal."[80] Usually means an arranged marriage.
  • Better Half. "Neutral, informal, and implies monogamy."
  • Companion. "Neutral, reference to Doctor Who’s companions, or Firefly’s Companions."[81]
  • Honey. An endearment used for one's partner.
  • Imzadi. "Neutral, from Star Trek, a Betazed word similar to beloved."[82]
  • Intended. "Neutral, formal."
  • Love. Refers to someone you love/who loves you. Calling someone "love" is usually casual and is often applied to women. Calling someone or referring to someone as "my love" is usually romantic and is applied to either gender.
  • Other Half. "Neutral, informal, and implies monogamy."[83]
  • Partner. Neutral, sometimes queer. There can be ambiguity between "partner" referring to a business or romantic partner.
  • Significant Other (S.O.). "Neutral, formal."
Spouse

Words for spouse & significant other.

  • Ball and Chain. Casual, humorous, slightly pejorative.
  • Better Half. "Neutral, informal, and implies monogamy."
  • Companion. "Neutral, reference to Doctor Who’s companions, or Firefly’s Companions."[84]
  • Honey. An endearment used for one's partner.
  • Imzadi. "Neutral, from Star Trek, a Betazed word similar to beloved."[85]
  • Love. Refers to someone you love/who loves you. Calling someone "love" is usually casual and is often applied to women. Calling someone or referring to someone as "my love" is usually romantic and is applied to either gender.
  • Newlywed. Neutral, alternative to bride/groom.
  • Partner. Neutral, sometimes queer. There can be ambiguity between "partner" referring to a business or romantic partner.
  • Other Half. "Neutral, informal, and implies monogamy."[86]
  • Significant Other (S.O.). "Neutral, formal."
  • Spouse. "Standard, neutral, formal."

Other family relationships

Gender-neutral and genderqueer words for other kinds of family relationships.

  • Godparent. Standard gender neutral term for godfather or godmother.
  • Grandchild. Standard gender neutral term for grandson or granddaughter.
  • Grandkid. Gender neutral term for grandson or granddaughter.
  • Grand. Gender neutral term for grandson or granddaughter.

Professions

  • Bar tender. Standard gender neutral term for barman or barmaid.
  • Business person. Standard gender neutral term for businessman or businesswoman.
  • Clergy member. Standard gender neutral term for clergyman, priest, priestess, and many religious titles.
  • Cowhand. Standard gender neutral term for cowboy or cowgirl.
  • Heroix. Proposed nonbinary equivalent to hero or heroine that specifies an individual doing heroic work is nonbinary.
  • Horse rider/equestrian. Standard gender neutral term for horseman or horsewoman.
  • Minister. Standard gender neutral term for priest or priestess.
  • Monarch. Standard gender neutral term for a king or queen.
  • Monarch's heir. Gender neutral term for a prince or princess.
  • Prime. Derived from Latin. Gender Neutral term for a prince or princess.
  • Primarch. Gender Neutral term for a prince or princess.
  • "Prinze" gender neutral term for prince/ princess
  • Princette. Queer, based on the Prince/ess ending. Gender Neutral term for a prince or princess.
  • Princexx/Princex/Prinx Other gender neutral terms for Prince/Princess/Royalty incorporating the letter x; a common indicator of gender neutral language
  • Qwing. A mix of King and Queen (with an added 'w'). Uncommon, but easy to recognize.
  • Royalty. Standard. Usually refers to a family but can be used as a Gender Neutral term for a prince/princess or a king/queen.
  • Noble. A nobleman/noblewoman, lord/lady, prince/princess, duke/duchess, or many other noble ranks that lack specific gender neutral titles.
  • Pilot. Standard gender neutral term for aviator or aviatrix.
  • Police officer Standard gender neutral term for policeman or policewoman.
  • Server. Standard gender neutral term for a person who provides items to customers, such as a "waiter/waitress" or "steward/stewardess".

Descriptions

  • Attractive. Gender neutral term equally applicable to "handsome" or "beautiful" individuals. Implies the speaker experiences some form of attraction, so might not be suitable for people who are aromantic or asexual.
  • Gorgeous. Gender neutral alternative to "handsome" or "beautiful," but tends to be feminine.
  • Youthful. Gender neutral alternative to "boyish" or perhaps "girlish," but tends to be masculine.

Deity titles

  • Absolute Being. Standard term for a monotheistic deity, without implied gender.
  • Almighty. Standard term for a monotheistic deity, without implied gender.
  • Creator. Standard term for a deity who created the world and/or humankind.
  • Deity. Standard gender neutral term for a god or goddess.
  • Divine, the. Common gender neutral term for a deity or supernatural forces.
  • Divine being. Common gender neutral term for a deity or supernatural entity.
  • God. Standard gender neutral term for a god or goddess, but tends to be presumed male.
  • Goddex. "Queer, based on the God/dess ending."[87]
  • Goddette. "Queer, based on the God/ess ending."[88]
  • Goddeq. "Queer, based on the God/ess ending."[89]
  • Heavens, the. Common gender neutral term for a deity, deities, or supernatural forces.
  • Higher Power. Standard gender neutral term for a deity, deities, or supernatural forces.
  • Liege. Neutral equivalent of lord or lady.
  • Powers that be. Common gender neutral term for a god, goddess, or similar supernatural beings or forces.
  • Ruler. Neutral equivalent of lord or lady.
  • Sovereign. Neutral equivalent of lord or lady.
  • Wild Divine, the. New Age name for God, Goddess, or primal supernatural forces.

Other terms

  • Fanenby/Fanby. Queer, using enby after fanboy or fangirl.[90]
  • Fankid. Neutral, after fanboy or fangirl.
  • Wedding usher. Neutral, alternative to bridesmaid or groomsman.
  • Wedding attendant. Neutral, alternative to bridesmaid or groomsman.
  • Bridesmate/Groomsmate. Neutral, alternative to bridesmaid or groomsman.
  • Friend of Honor/Made of Honor/Made of Awesome/Best Mate/ First Mate/Mate of Honor. Alternatives to Maid of Honor/Best Man

French

See also: Glossary of French gender and sex terminology.


German

See also: Glossary of German gender and sex terminology.

Nouns, Adjectives etc.

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[91]

Pronounced like iks.[92]

  • 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[93]

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 Pronouns#German_neutral_pronouns.

Titles

Instead of Frau/Herr

  • Frann[94] - nonstandard
  • Ind.[95] from "Individuum", nonstandard
  • Mau[96] - nonstandard
  • Per - nonstandard

Professional & Academic Titles

  • Doctorx[97] - nonstandard
  • Professorx[98] - nonstandard
  • Professx[99], abbreviated Prof. or Profx. - nonstandard

Family terms

Parent

  • Elter - singular rare, but in common dictionaries; 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 - (see "Elter")

Sibling

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

Partner

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


Hindi

See also: Glossary of Hindi gender and sex terminology.


Japanese

See also: Glossary of Japanese gender and sex terminology.


Korean

See also: Glossary of Korean gender and sex terminology.


Latin

Latin is essentially a historical language, but it is still used by a small but vibrant community worldwide. It starts to have some LGBT terminology, like "homophylophilia" (homosexuality), "propensio sexualis" (sexual orientation), "intersexualitas" (intersexuality), "identitas generis" (gender identity) etc., but modern neologisms remain a tricky issue in the language. Also, Latin traditionally makes extensive use of generic masculine, which is thus difficult to avoid. If one is ready to use terms that didn't exist in the classical language (or had a different meaning then), but have nevertheless been in use for centuries (e.g. "persona", "individuum"), it is possible to use a mix of terms of different grammatical genders and add other words as appositions aligned in gender in order to convey gender neutrality, e.g. "homo filius", "persona filia" and "individuum filium" in order to express "child" (in the sense of offspring). For "enby", "nebinium" has been proposed.[100]

Norwegian

Norwegian is a language with three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, but they have nothing at all to do with real gender. For example, "kvinne", which means "woman", "kusine", which means a female cousin, "jente", which means "girl", and "dronning", which means "queen", are all or can be masculine nouns. There are also a few odd words, such as romkamerat, an inclusive word meaning room-mate. The word "kamerat" means male friend.

Family terms

  • Ektefelle: An inclusive word for a spouse.
  • Barn: An inclusive word for a child.
  • Søskenbarn: An inclusive word for a cousin.
  • Forelder: A word for a parent.

Pronouns

  • Seg: An extremely common, standard word for "themself" or "themselves".
  • Si: The feminine possessive form of 'seg'. It indicates belonging to the subject, but not the gender/lack of gender of the subject (or even the object).
  • Sin: The masculine possessive form of 'seg'. Its function is similar to the function described above.
  • Sitt: The neuter possessive form of 'seg'. Its function is similar to the function described above.
  • Hen: An inclusive third-person pronoun. The Norwegian Language Council (Språkrådet) is unfavourable towards use of "hen" as a general gender-neutral pronoun in formal texts (while open to change should actual language use evolve), but advises to use it when requested by a nonbinary person. At that occasion, the Språkrådet uses "hen" also as object form and "hens" as genitive form.[101]

Other Types of Relationships

  • Venn: A standard word for "friend". "Kamerat" and "venninne", the other words, are binary.
  • Kjæreste: A person who is loved by another person, but not married to them.

Portuguese

See also: Glossary of Brazilian Portuguese gender and sex terminology, and Glossary of European Portuguese gender and sex terminology.


Russian

See also: Glossary of Russian gender and sex terminology.

Unlike English, Russian has three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. While neuter allows some non-binary people adjectives to use, this gender is not ideal for non-binary people for grammatical reasons. The first is that most neuter nouns decline like masculine nouns. The second is that neuter animate nouns do not change in the accusative case, while both masculine and feminine nouns do. This implies that people using neuter words are not human.


Titles

госпожне Plural is "госпожня". Grammatical gender is neutral, and while in the singular it takes endings similar to the masculine.

Family Terms

-евче and -овче In Russian, rather than middle names, children have patronyms, or their father's first name with -евич/-ович (for boys) or -евна/-овна (for girls) added to the end. -евче and -овче are genderqueer endings for one's patronym. Alternatives include -евчен/-овчен (agender), -еви/-ови (multigender) and more.


Spanish

This section has it's own article Gender neutral language in Spanish.

Swedish

 
A symbol of Swedish female, male, and neutral pronouns.

See also: Glossary of Swedish gender and sex terminology.

Traditionally, the word den has been used as a gender neutral pronoun and remains widely used today. However, depending on the context, the word den can also mean it leaving it unsatisfactory as a gender neutral pronoun for many who do not wish to be seen as comparable to an inanimate object. Since the 1960s, the person pronoun hen has become increasingly popular and will, in 2015, be added for the first time to Svenska Akademiens Ordlista (the Swedish equivalent to France's Dictionnaire de l'Académie française). It usage, however, remains somewhat contraversial and is vigorously opposed by some.

Pronouns

hen Standard gender neutral / third gender personal pronoun
hens Possive form of hen
henom Object form of hen

The object form of hen is sometimes just hens. It is very individual.


Thai

See also: Glossary of Thai gender and sex terminology.


External links

References

  1. ↑ Dictionary.com. "English used to have gendered nouns?! Yes!" May 16, 2012. Dictionary.com (blog). http://blog.dictionary.com/oldenglishgender/
  2. ↑ Elizabeth Isele, "Casey Miller and Kate Swift: Women who dared to disturb the lexicon." http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/old-WILLA/fall94/h2-isele.html
  3. ↑ Suzanne Romaine, Communicating Gender. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999, p. 104.
  4. ↑ "Gender neutral/queer titles." Gender Queeries. http://genderqueeries.tumblr.com/titles
  5. ↑ "Gender neutral/queer titles." Gender Queeries. http://genderqueeries.tumblr.com/titles
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  91. ↑ [1]
  92. ↑ [2]
  93. ↑ [3]
  94. ↑ [4]
  95. ↑ [5]
  96. ↑ [6]
  97. ↑ [7]
  98. ↑ [8]
  99. ↑ [9]
  100. ↑ See here.
  101. ↑ http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Publikasjoner/Spraaknytt/spraknytt-20162/spraknytt-12016/han-ho-eller-hen/
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