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Gender neutral language in French: Difference between revisions
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For instance, « <u>Les élèves</u> apprennent leur leçon. »; « <u>L'enfant</u> regarde la télévision. »; « <u>Les juges</u> ont pris leur décision. ». As singular articles indicate gender ('la' and 'le'), this technique works best with plural forms. However, it also works with singular forms if the noun begins with a vowel, because the article automatically becomes "l'...," which does not express gender. A drawback is that there are not epicene occupational titles for all professions or functions.<ref name=":0" /> | For instance, « <u>Les élèves</u> apprennent leur leçon. »; « <u>L'enfant</u> regarde la télévision. »; « <u>Les juges</u> ont pris leur décision. ». As singular articles indicate gender ('la' and 'le'), this technique works best with plural forms. However, it also works with singular forms if the noun begins with a vowel, because the article automatically becomes "l'...," which does not express gender. A drawback is that there are not epicene occupational titles for all professions or functions.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
In certain Swiss-French varieties, as in the canton of Vaud, masculine and feminine words ending in '-é' resp. '-ée' are pronounced differently (i. e. 'une employée' [ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:</u>]/[ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:j</u>] ''versus'' 'un employé' [ɛ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]/[œ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]). However, this linguistically conservative pronunciation is becoming increasingly marginal: it is primarily confined to Switzerland and, in major cities and among younger generations, the pronunciation is gradually converging with the standard French norm, meaning that the distinction between /e/ and /e:/ (or /e:j/, remnant from Franco-Provençal dialects spoken in the region before linguistic homogenization) is being neutralized, resulting in a single phoneme /e/ and causing 'employé' and 'employée' to be pronounced identically. As a result, here, these words are considered orally epicene. | In certain Swiss-French varieties, as in the canton of Vaud, masculine and feminine words ending in '-é' resp. '-ée' are pronounced differently (i. e. 'une employée' [ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:</u>]/[ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:j</u>] ''versus'' 'un employé' [ɛ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]/[œ̃nɑ̃plwaj<u>e</u>]). However, this linguistically conservative pronunciation is becoming increasingly marginal: it is primarily confined to Switzerland and, in major cities and among younger generations, the pronunciation is gradually converging with the standard French norm, meaning that the distinction between /e/ and /e:/ (or /e:j/, remnant from [[wikipedia:Franco-Provençal|Franco-Provençal dialects]] spoken in the region before linguistic homogenization) is being [[wikipedia:Neutralization_(linguistics)|neutralized]], resulting in a single phoneme /e/ and causing 'employé' and 'employée' to be pronounced identically. As a result, here, these words are considered orally epicene. | ||
=== Monogender epicene nouns and collective terms === | === Monogender epicene nouns and collective terms === | ||
The table below shows gendered language ('[https://www.plus.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Gender_in_German_MWerner.pdf sexus]', i. e. natural sex or individual's gender) on the left and neutral | The table below shows gendered language ('[https://www.plus.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Gender_in_German_MWerner.pdf sexus]', i. e. natural sex or individual's gender) on the left and gender-neutral language ('genus', i. e. [[wikipedia:Grammatical_gender|grammatical gender]]) on the right. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Collective terms<ref name=":11" /> | |+Collective terms<ref name=":11" /> | ||
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===Proximity agreement=== | ===Proximity agreement=== | ||
Up until the 18th century, the masculine gender did not always take precedence over the feminine in instances where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity<ref>EPFL (2023): ''L’accord de proximité''. Online at:https://www.epfl.ch/about/equality/fr/langage-inclusif/guide/principes/accord/ (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> and free-choice agreement coexisted alongside the masculine-over-feminine rule.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> For a significant portion of Old French history, proximity agreement was the most prevalent method for agreeing adjectives, past participles, etc. (cf. Anglade 1931:172).<ref>Anglade, J. (1931): ''Grammaire élémentaire de l'ancien français''. Paris: Armand Colin, 157–196.</ref> Today, this agreement could facilitate gender equality in grammar instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was suggested in the 17th and 18th century by French grammarians such as Malherbe, Vaugelas, Bouhours and Beauzée:<blockquote>« Le genre masculin, étant le plus noble, doit prédominer toutes les fois que le masculin et le féminin se trouvent ensemble. » (Claude Favre de Vaugelas, ''Remarques sur la langue français''e, 1647).<ref name=":1" /> | Up until the 18th century, the masculine gender did not always take precedence over the feminine in instances where the genders could theoretically be congruent: proximity<ref>EPFL (2023): ''L’accord de proximité''. Online at:https://www.epfl.ch/about/equality/fr/langage-inclusif/guide/principes/accord/ (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> and free-choice agreement coexisted alongside the masculine-over-feminine rule.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":2" /> For a significant portion of Old French history, [[wikipedia:Agreement_(linguistics)|proximity agreement]] was the most prevalent method for agreeing adjectives, past participles, etc. (cf. Anglade 1931:172).<ref>Anglade, J. (1931): ''Grammaire élémentaire de l'ancien français''. Paris: Armand Colin, 157–196.</ref> Today, this agreement could facilitate gender equality in grammar instead of the masculine-over-feminine hierarchy that was suggested in the 17th and 18th century by French grammarians such as Malherbe, Vaugelas, Bouhours and Beauzée:<blockquote>« Le genre masculin, étant le plus noble, doit prédominer toutes les fois que le masculin et le féminin se trouvent ensemble. » (Claude Favre de Vaugelas, ''Remarques sur la langue français''e, 1647).<ref name=":1" /> | ||
« Lorsque les deux genres se rencontrent, il faut que le plus noble l’emporte. » (Bouhours 1675).<ref name=":3" /> | « Lorsque les deux genres se rencontrent, il faut que le plus noble l’emporte. » (Bouhours 1675).<ref name=":3" /> | ||
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====Subject pronouns==== | ====Subject pronouns==== | ||
French only distinguishes gender in the third-person | French only distinguishes gender in pronouns in the third-person (cf. 'elle' and 'il', 'ils' and 'elles'). Up until the 12th century, French knew the neutral subject pronoun 'el'/'al'.<ref>Marchello-Nizia, C. (1989): Le neutre et l’impersonnel. In: ''Linx'' ''21'', 173–179. 10.3406/linx.1989.1139.</ref> Today, 'el' cannot be reintroduced from Old French as it would sound identical to 'elle', the current feminin subject pronoun. As for 'al', it sounds like 'elle' in spoken Canadian French.<ref name=":5">Ashley, F. (2019): Les personnes non-binaires en français : une perspective concernée et militante. In: ''H-France Salon'' ''11''(14).</ref> It could, however, still be a viable option for the rest of the Francophone community.<ref name=":13">Alpheratz (2018): ''Genre neutre.TABLEAUX RÉCAPITULATIFS de mots de genre neutre (extraits)''. Online at: https://www.alpheratz.fr/linguistique/genre-neutre/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> Nowadays, according to the ''Guide de rédaction inclusive'' (2021:14) from the Laval University,<ref name=":11">Université Laval (2021): ''Guide de rédaction inclusive''. Online at: https://www.ulaval.ca/sites/default/files/EDI/Guide_redaction_inclusive_DC_UL.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> the ''Guide de grammaire neutre et inclusive'' (2021:5) from Divergenres,<ref name=":0" /> the ''Petit dico de français neutre/inclusif'' (2018) from La vie en Queer,<ref name=":6">La vie en Queer (2018): ''Petit dico de français neutre/inclusif''. Online at: https://lavieenqueer.wordpress.com/2018/07/26/petit-dico-de-francais-neutre-inclusif/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> and Wiki Trans (2019),<ref name=":7">Wiki Trans (2019): ''Comment parler d'une personne non binaire ?'' Online at: https://wikitrans.co/2019/12/25/comment-parler-dune-personne-non-binaire/ (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> the most widely adopted subject (neo)pronoun is 'iel(le)'. It was added to the prestigious dictionary ''Le Robert'' in 2021.<ref>Radio Télévision Suisse (2021): ''L'entrée du pronom "iel" dans Le Robert provoque des remous''. Online at: https://www.rts.ch/info/monde/12651159-lentree-du-pronom-iel-dans-le-robert-provoque-des-remous.html (retrieved 15.12.2023).</ref> Alongside 'iel(le)', Canadian French also seems to use 'ille'.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> In metropolitan France, the pronoun 'al', proposed by linguist Alpheratz in their book ''Grammaire du français inclusif'' (2018), has gained some recognition. The table below presents the primary gender-neutral subject pronouns found in the French-speaking world. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||