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Gender neutral language in French: Difference between revisions
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==Non-neologisms== | ==Non-neologisms== | ||
===Refeminization === | ===Refeminization === | ||
Prior to the 17th century, French, like Italian, Spanish, and other Romance languages, utilized feminine inflections to distinguish female professionals. However, for a range of reasons — both societal, such as misogyny,<ref name=":1">Becquelin, H. (no data): ''Langage en tout genre. Argument historique''. Article on non discriminating language. University of Neuchâtel. Online at: https://www.unine.ch/epicene/home/pourquoi/argument-historique.html (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref><ref name=":12">Viennot, E. (2023): ''Pour un langage non sexiste ! Les accords égalitaires en français''. Online at: https://www.elianeviennot.fr/Langue-accords.html (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> and linguistic<ref name=":2">Moreau, M.-L. (2019): L’accord de proximité dans l’écriture inclusive. Peut-on utiliser n’importe quel argument ? In: Dister, A./ Piron, S. (eds.): ''Les discours de référence sur la langue française (Presses de l’Université Saint-Louis)'', 351–378. 10.4000/books.pusl.26517.</ref>, as French was being standardized and dialect speakers were expected to learn French — grammarians ensured that these feminine designations were effectively removed from the language.<ref name=":1" /> | Prior to the 17th century, French, like Italian, Spanish, and other Romance languages, utilized feminine inflections to distinguish female and male professionals. However, for a range of reasons — both societal, such as misogyny,<ref name=":1">Becquelin, H. (no data): ''Langage en tout genre. Argument historique''. Article on non discriminating language. University of Neuchâtel. Online at: https://www.unine.ch/epicene/home/pourquoi/argument-historique.html (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref><ref name=":12">Viennot, E. (2023): ''Pour un langage non sexiste ! Les accords égalitaires en français''. Online at: https://www.elianeviennot.fr/Langue-accords.html (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> and linguistic<ref name=":2">Moreau, M.-L. (2019): L’accord de proximité dans l’écriture inclusive. Peut-on utiliser n’importe quel argument ? In: Dister, A./ Piron, S. (eds.): ''Les discours de référence sur la langue française (Presses de l’Université Saint-Louis)'', 351–378. 10.4000/books.pusl.26517.</ref>, as French was being standardized and dialect speakers were expected to learn French — grammarians ensured that these feminine designations were effectively removed from the language.<ref name=":1" /> | ||
Today, many people refer to the contemporary introduction of feminine designations as 'feminization,' believing that these occupational titles are newly coined terms. However, this is not the case, as they are being revived from an earlier iteration of the French language, making 'refeminization'<ref name=":0">Divergenres (2021): ''Guide de grammaire neutre et inclusive''. Québec. Online at: https://divergenres.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/guide-grammaireinclusive-final.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> a more accurate term. | Today, many people refer to the contemporary introduction of feminine designations as 'feminization,' believing that these occupational titles are newly coined terms. However, this is not the case, as they are being revived from an earlier iteration of the French language, making 'refeminization'<ref name=":0">Divergenres (2021): ''Guide de grammaire neutre et inclusive''. Québec. Online at: https://divergenres.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/guide-grammaireinclusive-final.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> a more accurate term. | ||
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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, | 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, i. e. Patois, 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. | ||
=== | === Monogender epicene nouns and collective terms === | ||
The table below shows gendered language on the left and neutral — i.e. grammatical gender that has nothing to do with biological sex or gender identity — language on the right. | The table below shows gendered language on the left and neutral — i.e. grammatical gender that has nothing to do with biological sex or gender identity — language on the right. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+Collective terms<ref name=":11" /> | ||
!Inclusive gendered language | !Inclusive gendered language | ||
!Inclusive neutral language | !Inclusive neutral language | ||
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|} | |} | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ | |+Monogender (epicene) nouns<ref name=":11" /> | ||
!Explicit binary gender | !Explicit binary gender | ||
!Grammatically fixed gender | !Grammatically fixed gender | ||
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====Subject pronouns==== | ====Subject pronouns==== | ||
French only distinguishes gender in the third-person singular (cf. 'elle' and 'il'). 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'. 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', Canadian French also uses '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. | French only distinguishes gender in the third-person singular (cf. 'elle' and 'il'). 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'. 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', Canadian French also uses '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" | ||
|+ | |+ | ||
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The possessive adjectives 'mon', 'ton', and 'son', which are generally masculine, are also used as feminine possessive adjectives when combined with a feminine noun that begins (phonetically) with a vowel: 'mon amie', 'ton employée', 'son hôtesse', etc. Therefore, there is no need to use a possessive neologism in words starting with vowels, as the masculine and feminine gender are syncretized in this context. | The possessive adjectives 'mon', 'ton', and 'son', which are generally masculine, are also used as feminine possessive adjectives when combined with a feminine noun that begins (phonetically) with a vowel: 'mon amie', 'ton employée', 'son hôtesse', etc. Therefore, there is no need to use a possessive neologism in words starting with vowels, as the masculine and feminine gender are syncretized in this context. | ||
The pronunciation [sɑ̃] of 'san' is a homophone of 'sang' ('blood'). Alpheratz proposes 'mu(n)', 'tu(n)', 'su(n)'<ref name=":13" /> as synthetic forms. However, 'tu(n)' is a homophone of the subject pronoun 'tu', and <nowiki><u> — i. e. [y] — is a linguistically marked phone</nowiki>.<ref>Rice, K. (2007): Markedness in phonology. In: ''The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology'', 79–98. 10.1017/cbo9780511486371.005.</ref><ref>Carvalho, J. (2023): From binary features to elements: Implications for markedness theory and phonological acquisition. In: ''Radical: A Journal of Phonology'' ''3'', 346–384.</ref> Alternative forms could be 'mi(ne)', 'ti(ne)', 'sine', as only the roundness parameter (cf. [y] and [i] in the IPA) distinguishes them from the original neologisms | The pronunciation [sɑ̃] of 'san' is a homophone of 'sang' ('blood'). Alpheratz proposes 'mu(n)', 'tu(n)', 'su(n)'<ref name=":13" /> as synthetic forms. However, 'tu(n)' is a homophone of the subject pronoun 'tu', and <nowiki><u> — i. e. [y] — is a linguistically marked phone</nowiki>.<ref>Rice, K. (2007): Markedness in phonology. In: ''The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology'', 79–98. 10.1017/cbo9780511486371.005.</ref><ref>Carvalho, J. (2023): From binary features to elements: Implications for markedness theory and phonological acquisition. In: ''Radical: A Journal of Phonology'' ''3'', 346–384.</ref> Alternative forms could be 'mi(ne)', 'ti(ne)', 'sine', as only the roundness parameter (cf. [y] and [i] in the IPA) distinguishes them from the original neologisms suggested by Alpheratz. 'si(ne)' could be pronounced with an '-ne' ending to avoid homophony with 'si' (i. e. 'if'). Similar-sounding possessive adjectives can be found in Spanish ('mi'), in English ('my'), in Swedish ('min', 'din', 'sin', the last one being a gender-neutral reflexive possessive pronoun),<ref>Duolingo Wiki: ''Swedish Skills. Possessives''. Online at:https://duolingo.fandom.com/wiki/Swedish_Skill:Possessives (18.12.2023).</ref> in Norwegian,<ref>Norwegian University of Science and Technology (no data): ''8 Grammar. Possessives''. Online at: https://www.ntnu.edu/now/8/grammar (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> in Swiss-German,<ref>Klaudia, K. (2017): ''Schweizerdeutsch. Schlüssel zu den Übungen.'' Online at: https://silo.tips/download/schweizerdeutsch-schlssel-zu-den-bungen (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> and in other Germanic languages. As 60% of of humans are multilingual,<ref>McGibney, S. (2023): ''What Percentage of the World’s Population is Bilingual? Introduction to Bilingualism: Exploring the Global Language Diversity''. Online at: https://www.newsdle.com/blog/world-population-bilingual-percentage (retrieved 18.12.2023).</ref> cross-linguistic influence could be used to facilitate the memorization and adoption of neologisms.<ref>Van Dijk, C./Van Wonderen, E./Koutamanis, E./Kootstra, G.J./Dijkstra, T./Unsworth, S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence in simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children: a meta-analysis. In: ''J. Child Lang.'' ''49'', 897–929. 10.1017/S0305000921000337.</ref><ref>Van Dijk, C./Dijkstra, T./Unsworth, S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence during online sentence processing in bilingual children. In: ''Bilingualism'' ''25'', 691–704. 10.1017/S1366728922000050.</ref> | ||
====Demonstrative adjective==== | ====Demonstrative adjective==== | ||
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|douxe | |douxe | ||
|} | |} | ||
The synthetic gender-neutral forms in which the silent consonant of the masculine form becomes audible mantain the original number of syllables. They have an audible suffix, like the feminine forms do, without that suffix being the same as the feminine | The synthetic gender-neutral forms in which the silent consonant of the masculine form becomes audible mantain the original number of syllables. They have an audible suffix, like the feminine forms do, without that suffix being the same as the feminine. Additionally, the fact that the audible consonant in gender-neutral form matches the consonant in the masculine suffix could facilitate the learning of these neologisms for literate French speakers. However, in cases where the masculine does not contain a silent <x> and the feminine has a distinctive suffix, such as with 'dieu, déesse', adopting the analytic approach may be more consistent in terms of spelling and inclusivity (see previous paragraph). | ||
====Endings with nasal vowels in the masculine form==== | ====Endings with nasal vowels in the masculine form==== | ||
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|brun <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃</u>]/[bʁ<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | |brun <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃</u>]/[bʁ<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|brune <small>[bʁy<u>n</u>]</small> | |brune <small>[bʁy<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|brunn <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃n</u>]/[bʁ<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | |breune, brunn <small>[bʁ<u>œ̃n</u>]/[bʁ<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
|braine, ''bran'' <small>[bʁɑ̃]/[bʁan]</small> | |braine, ''bran'' <small>[bʁɑ̃]/[bʁan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
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|opportun <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>œ̃</u>]/[ɔpɔʁt<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | |opportun <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>œ̃</u>]/[ɔpɔʁt<u>ɛ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|opportune <small>[ɔpɔʁty<u>n</u>]</small> | |opportune <small>[ɔpɔʁty<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|opportaine <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>ɛn</u>]</small> | |opporteune, opportaine <small>[ɔpɔʁt<u>ɛn</u>]</small> | ||
| opportan <small>[ɔpɔʁtɑ̃]/[ɔpɔʁtan]</small> | | opportan <small>[ɔpɔʁtɑ̃]/[ɔpɔʁtan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
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|mignon <small>[miɲ<u>õ</u>]</small> | |mignon <small>[miɲ<u>õ</u>]</small> | ||
|mignonne <small>[miɲɔ<u>n</u>]</small> | |mignonne <small>[miɲɔ<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
| | |migneune [miɲœn] | ||
|mignaine, ''mignan'' <small>[miɲɑ̃]/[miɲan]</small> | |mignaine, ''mignan'' <small>[miɲɑ̃]/[miɲan]</small> | ||
|} | |} | ||
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*Moi aussi j’adore aider les autres ! Souvent, le matin, j’aide mi jumal à s’habiller, à préparer sa récré et à mettre ses chaussures, parce qu’iel a un chromosome de plus que moi alors certaines choses sont moins faciles pour ellui. Je me montre toujours patiende et douxe parce qu’iel fait pas ça exprès ! J’écrirai des livres sur ce dont les personnes qui réfléchissent différemment ont besoin et je découvrirai pourquoi elles pensent comme ça : du coup, quand je serai vieuille, je serai écrivan-chercheureuse. | *Moi aussi j’adore aider les autres ! Souvent, le matin, j’aide mi jumal à s’habiller, à préparer sa récré et à mettre ses chaussures, parce qu’iel a un chromosome de plus que moi alors certaines choses sont moins faciles pour ellui. Je me montre toujours patiende et douxe parce qu’iel fait pas ça exprès ! J’écrirai des livres sur ce dont les personnes qui réfléchissent différemment ont besoin et je découvrirai pourquoi elles pensent comme ça : du coup, quand je serai vieuille, je serai écrivan-chercheureuse. | ||
*Comment ça, quand tu seras vieilleux ? Tu crois que tu vas commencer à travailler quand ? | *Comment ça, quand tu seras vieilleux ? Tu crois que tu vas commencer à travailler quand ? | ||
*Je sais pas, quand je serai adulte, quand je serai vieuille quoi. | *Je sais pas, quand je serai adulte, quand je serai vieuille, quoi. | ||
* Ce que tu es mignan de penser que je suis vieilleux, moi, merci bien. | * Ce que tu es mignan de penser que je suis vieilleux, moi, merci bien. | ||
*(ricanements) | *(ricanements) | ||