Gender neutral language in Polish: Difference between revisions

'''Gender neutral language in Polish''' is more difficult than gender neutral language (also called gender inclusive language) in some languages, because grammatical gender is very pervasive in Polish. See the main article on [[gender neutral language]] for general reasons to use neutral language, common problems in using it, and its use for nonbinary people.

In Polish there is no standard gender-neutral pronoun like English's [[singular they]].

There is a neuter pronoun "ono/jego" but that can be considered dehumanizing, similar to "it/its" in English.

Some Polish-speaking nonbinary people just use "he/his" ("on/jego") or "she/her" ("ona/jej") – either the same as their [[gender assigned at birth]] or the opposite.<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 }}</ref>

Some neopronoun forms have been proposed, such as<ref name="zaim_Skąd">{{Cite web |title=Skąd potrzeba niebinarnych zaimków? |trans-title=Where is the need for nonbinary pronouns? |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/ |language=pl}}</ref>:

Nouns, verbs, and adjectives are also gendered in Polish. Some Polish nonbinary people create solutions such as gender-neutral word 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}}</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 }}</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}}</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}}</ref>

==External resources==