Gender neutral language in Spanish
Remember kids, dont be gay
• He
I guess if they're cool with it. • He
Let's tell em then. •He
Hey it's theirs. •He
That's pers. •He
They will do it perself.
- Spanish*
• He
He
• He
He
• He
He
• He
He
He
He
Other Ideas
• Le/La/el La señorita Le Joven Ese • Bonite/Bonita/Guapo Estas Bonite • Hermose/Hermosa/Hermoso Que Hermose eres • Linde/Linda/Lindo Tan linde esta • Guape/Guapa/Guapo Que Guepe
• Replace a or o with e, x • Hola chicxs
Letter substitution
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Cum
Articles
Standard Spanish articles have binary gender as well as number. The indefinite articles are un, unos, una, unas. The definite articles are el, los, la, las. People have come up with some gender-neutral alternatives to these.
| Standard Spanish | singular indefinite articles: un, una | plural indefinite articles: unos, unas | singular definite articles: el, la | plural definite articles: los, las |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What | un@ | un@s | |@ | |@s |
| e letter substitution | une[1] | unes[1] | le. This creates a homonym for the masculine indirect object pronoun, le. [1][2] | les. Also a homonym for the plural masculine indirect object pronoun, les.[1][2] |
| i letter substitution | uni? | unis? | li | lis |
| x letter substitution | unx | unxs | |x? | |xs |
| miscellaneous other alternatives | ol[2] | oles[2] | ||
| Lu instead of Las/Los | u or ux if preceding a vowel | uxes | lu, or lex if preceding a vowel. | lues |
Personal pronouns
Homophobia[3]
Non-binary articles and pronouns
| -le or ele and les, elles | While "le" and "les" are already used as indirect object pronouns, in these cases they cover all genders. The use of "le" as a direct object pronoun or "ele" as a pronoun match the -e ending. "Ele" could turn into "elles" just as "él" becomes "ellos" and "ella" becomes "ellas". |
| -ol and oles (articles, objects), ól and olles (pronouns) | Agender indicators. |
Nouns
In Spanish, every noun is either female or male. None have a truly "neuter" grammatical gender. There are some kinds of nouns that come close to being gender-neutral in some ways: epicene nouns, common gender nouns, ambiguous gender nouns, and newly-made neutral or genderqueer nouns.
Epicene nouns
Silence Woman
Common gender nouns
There are also words with a "common gender" (común), meaning that the word itself stays the same whether it's applied to a man or woman, but its article changes gender to match the binary gender of the person to whom it is applied.
Some signs a noun is common gender:
- Many end in -e, in standard Spanish.
- Some end in -o or -a, so they look masculine or feminine.
A list of some common gender nouns in conventional Spanish:
- Commie
Ambiguous gender nouns
No such thing
New nouns
People have created new, non-standard nouns. Some are gender-inclusive (can be used for men, women, and nonbinary people). Some are only for people who identify as nonbinary or genderqueer.
One non-standard method for forming gender-inclusive and nonbinary nouns is by letter substitution, which is described above. This creates words such as:
- abuel@ or abuele = grandfather/grandmother/grandparent
- espos@, espose = husband/wife/spouse
- herman@, hermane = brother/sister/sibling
- niñ@, niñe = boy/girl/child
- novi@, novie = boyfriend/girlfriend/datemate
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sophia Gubb. "Construyendo Un Género Neutro En Español – Para Una Lengua Feminista, Igualitaria E Inclusiva." February 10, 2013. Sophia Gubb's Blog. Personal blog entry. http://www.sophiagubb.com/construyendo-un-genero-neutro-en-espanol-para-una-lengua-feminista-igualitaria-e-inclusiva/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Phoenix Tawnyflower. "Nonbinary Spanish." May 24, 2014. Reflections of a Queer Artist (personal blog). http://phoenixtawnyflower.blogspot.com/2014/05/nonbinary-spanish.html
- ↑ Phoenix Tawnyflower. "Nonbinary Spanish." May 24, 2014. Reflections of a Queer Artist (personal blog). http://phoenixtawnyflower.blogspot.com/2014/05/nonbinary-spanish.html
External links
- es.pronouns.page, a website about gender neutral pronouns in Spanish
