Gender neutral language: Difference between revisions

The Washington Post has reported that "Modern standard Arabic, based on Koranic classical Arabic, additionally has a dual option for nouns and verbs that doesn’t imply a specific gender. Some people therefore use the dual of they and you — “huma” (هما) and “intuma” (انتما) — as a gender-neutral alternative. Colloquial Arabic spoken today has largely done away with the dual, so this form can sound very formal to those not in the know."<ref name="Berger">{{Cite web |title=A guide to how gender-neutral language is developing around the world |last=Berger |first=Miriam |work=Washington Post |date=15 December 2019 |access-date=2 October 2020 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/12/15/guide-how-gender-neutral-language-is-developing-around-world/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527215640/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/12/15/guide-how-gender-neutral-language-is-developing-around-world/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>

English is one of the easiest languages to speak in a gender neutral way. One reason for this is it is in the Germanic language family, it originally had three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Another reason is that in the 1200s, English speakers stopped making gender a part of every noun, adjective, and article. Remnants of grammatical gender survived only in personal pronouns and some common nouns.<ref>Dictionary.com. "English used to have gendered nouns?! Yes!" May 16, 2012. ''Dictionary.com'' (blog). [http://blog.dictionary.com/oldenglishgender/ http://blog.dictionary.com/oldenglishgender/] [https://web.archive.org/web/20220322012738/http://blog.dictionary.com/oldenglishgender/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> On the other hand, a movement in the 18th century condemned neutral language like [[singular they]], and insisted it sounded more educated to use masculine language like "he" instead, like in Latin. All these changes to English still have effects today, and sometimes create problems. For example, old laws are not clear about whether they use "he" to mean anybody, or men only. Linguists, feminists, and LGBT people have been working on finding the best solutions to the remaining problems with gender exclusive language. Over the past century, they created hundreds of [[English neutral pronouns|pronouns]], out of the lingering belief that "singular they" pronouns will not do. From the 1970s, they have also developed alternatives to gendered words, such as "mail carrier" rather than "mailman."  

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 "homosexualitas"/"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.<ref>See [https://nibi.space/pronomen_und_grammatisches_geschlecht_in_anderen_sprachen#romanische_sprachen here]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230513041235/https://nibi.space/pronomen_und_grammatisches_geschlecht_in_anderen_sprachen Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>

*'''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.<ref>http://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Publikasjoner/Spraaknytt/spraknytt-20162/spraknytt-12016/han-ho-eller-hen/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20230321173610/https://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/Publikasjoner/Spraaknytt/spraknytt-20162/spraknytt-12016/han-ho-eller-hen/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>

*'''Hin''': Another gender-neutral pronoun.<ref name="frio_Kjøn">{{Cite web |title=Kjønnsportal > Pronomen |trans-title= |author= |work=FRI Oslo og Viken |date= |access-date=8 March 2021 |url= https://www.friosloviken.no/kun/ressurser/kjonn/pronomen/ |language=nb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922014646/https://www.friosloviken.no/kun/ressurser/kjonn/pronomen/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

Polish is a very gendered language. Some Polish nonbinary people create solutions such as gender-neutral verb endings, for example "chciałxm"/"chciałom"/"chciałx" instead of "chciałbym" (masculine) or "chciałabym" (feminine).<ref>{{cite web|title=hi how to use they them in poland. próbuję ale im failing miserably|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=http://archive.is/ZMwts|url=https://urodziwy.tumblr.com/post/187175986471/hi-how-to-use-they-them-in-poland-pr%C3%B3buj%C4%99-ale-im}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Czemu ludzie są Twoim zdaniem dyskryminowani przez swoją orientację seksualną?|archive-url=http://archive.is/k4Xzj|archive-date=17 June 2020|url=https://ask.fm/brainlessxx/answers/162268935811}}</ref> In the novel ''Perfect Imperfection'', author Jacek Dukaj used -um verb endings (e.g. "zobaczyłum" instead of the masculine "zobaczyłem" or feminine "zobaczyłam").<ref name="TransGrysy">{{Cite web |title=TransGrysy wyjaśniają: co robić, a czego nie robić w kontaktach z osobami transpłciowymi? |trans-title=TransGrysy explains: what to do and what not to do when dealing with transgender people? |last=Winky |first=Kinky |work=kinkywinky.pl |date= |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://www.kinkywinky.pl/blog/poradnik/transplciowosc-savoir-vivre.html |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623034945/https://www.kinkywinky.pl/blog/poradnik/transplciowosc-savoir-vivre.html |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> These have since become known as Dukaisms.<ref name="zaimkipl">{{Cite web |title=An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns |trans-title= |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/english |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603042546/https://zaimki.pl/english |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>

Another gender-neutral way of speaking or writing Polish is rewording phrases to use a non-gendered conjugation of a verb. For example, instead of saying "I saw" in the masculine form "zobaczyłem" or feminine form "zobaczyłam", one could say "Udało mi się zobaczyć" (I was able to see).<ref name="grabieżca">{{Cite web |title=Osoby niebinarne - jakiej są płci? |trans-title= |author=niski_grabieżca |work=transseksualizm.blogspot.com |date=12 June 2019 |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://transseksualizm.blogspot.com/2019/06/osoby-niebinarne-jakiej-sa-pci.html |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623022837/https://transseksualizm.blogspot.com/2019/06/osoby-niebinarne-jakiej-sa-pci.html |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>

For written Polish, it is possible to combine the masculine and feminine forms of a noun, with a space in between the endings to acknowledge other genders. For example instead of the masculine "aktorzy" or the feminine "aktorki", one could write "aktorki_rzy".<ref name="123t_Gend">{{Cite web |title=Gender. Płeć w języku. Feminizm w języku polskim |trans-title=Gender. Gender in language. Feminism in Polish language |last=Tłumaczeń |first=Biuro |work=Ekspresowe tłumaczenia |date=11 December 2015 |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://123tlumacz.pl/gender-plec-w-jezyku-feminizm-w-jezyku-polskim/ |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612005847/https://123tlumacz.pl/gender-plec-w-jezyku-feminizm-w-jezyku-polskim/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>

|+''Ela'' and ''ele'' compared to some Portuguese neopronouns:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://identidades.wikia.org/pt-br/wiki/Linguagem_n%C3%A3o-bin%C3%A1ria_ou_neutra|title=Linguagem não-binária ou neutra|last=Lobo|first=Cari|last2=Gaigaia|first2=V.|website=wikia|language=Portuguese|trans-title=Non-binary or neutral language|others=Revised by Kumiho Lim|access-date=20 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025071357/http://identidades.wikia.org/pt-br/wiki/Linguagem_n%C3%A3o-bin%C3%A1ria_ou_neutra|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronome_neutro_de_terceira_pessoa#Portugu%C3%AAs|title=Pronome neutro de terceira pessoa|website=Wikipedia|access-date=21 June 2021|language=Portuguese|trans-title=Neutral third person pronoun|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605221819/https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronome_neutro_de_terceira_pessoa|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orientando.org/listas/tipos-de-linguagem/|title=Elementos de conjuntos de linguagem|website=orientando|language=Portuguese|trans-title=Elements of sets of language|access-date=21 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606023545/https://orientando.org/listas/tipos-de-linguagem/|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref>

As a language in the Romance family, Spanish has two grammatical genders, masculine and feminine, which are part of every adjective, noun, and article. This makes it nearly impossible to speak in a completely gender-neutral in standard Spanish. Feminists, LGBT people, and other activists today are creating methods to speak Spanish in a gender-neutral way when needed. Because the ending -o is masculine, and -a is feminine,  it's now common for people to substitute these with a different letter or symbol to create a neutral version. The most used and more accepted is using -e. Some common examples of this are "L@s Latin@s,"<ref name="sikian">Sikian. ''Reddit''. Forum comment. 2015. https://www.reddit.com/r/genderqueer/comments/2ymn25/gender_in_language_to_all_you_nonbinary_redditors/cpdjdhi [https://web.archive.org/web/20220923080826/https://www.reddit.com/r/genderqueer/comments/2ymn25/gender_in_language_to_all_you_nonbinary_redditors/cpdjdhi/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref name="gubb">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/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20230318230932/http://www.sophiagubb.com/construyendo-un-genero-neutro-en-espanol-para-una-lengua-feminista-igualitaria-e-inclusiva/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref name="socialchange">http://www.spanishforsocialchange.com/2015/05/living-as-non-binary-or-gender-neutral.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20230323183754/https://www.spanishforsocialchange.com/2015/05/living-as-non-binary-or-gender-neutral.html Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref><ref name="genderfork">http://genderfork.com/2013/question-gender-neutral-honorifics-in-spanish/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20220921230102/http://genderfork.com/2013/question-gender-neutral-honorifics-in-spanish/ Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> "Lxs Latinxs,"<ref name="sikian /><ref name="genderfork /><ref name="socialchange /> "Les Latines,"<ref name="Schmidt">{{Cite web |title=A Language for All |last=Schmidt |first=Samantha |work=Washington Post |date=5 December 2019 |access-date=29 May 2020 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/12/05/teens-argentina-are-leading-charge-gender-neutral-language/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510125055/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/12/05/teens-argentina-are-leading-charge-gender-neutral-language/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref><ref name="socialchange" /> and even "LⒶs LatinⒶs."<ref name="tawny">Phoenix Tawnyflower. "Nonbinary Spanish." May 24, 2014. ''Reflections of a Queer Artist'' (personal blog). http://phoenixtawnyflower.blogspot.com/2014/05/nonbinary-spanish.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20220924210924/https://phoenixtawnyflower.blogspot.com/2014/05/nonbinary-spanish.html Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref>