Gender neutral language in Portuguese

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Gender neutral language

The vast majority of Portuguese words have one of two grammatical genders: the feminine or the masculine. The creation and implementation of gender neutral terms in the Portuguese language aims to make non-binary people feel included. It is important to note that, in Portuguese, there’s a distinction between neutral language and inclusive language. Though the two overlap in some aspects, the latter makes use of already existing binary terms and its main goal is to include both men and women in conversations.[1] It comes as a response to the way Portuguese uses the masculine to encompass the feminine. This can be seen, for example, when groups are referred to with the masculine and plural form of a noun even when they’re not made-up exclusively of men.

How the sentence "Good night, everyone!" is traditionally said and what each category of language suggests as an alternative:
Common language Neutral language Inclusive language
Boa noite a todos! Boa noite a todes! Boa noite a todos e todas!

This article will focus on neutral Portuguese language.

Personal pronouns

Third person singular

In Portuguese, there are two standard personal pronoun sets for the third person singular. Ela is equivalent to the English "she" and ele is equivalent to the English "he." Portuguese-speaking non-binary people who don't feel comfortable with either of these have had to come up with their own neopronouns.

The ela and ele sets[2], compared to some of the most common Portuguese neopronoun sets:[3]
Nominative Accusative Dative Prepositional Prepositional

with com

Non-declining
ela a, la, na, se lhe, se ela, si com ela, consigo a mesma
ele o, lo, no, se lhe, se ele, si com ele, consigo o mesmo
el ? lhe, se el, si com el, consigo ?
elu ? lhe, se elu, si com elu, consigo ?
ilu ? lhe, se ilu, si com ilu, consigo ?
ile ? lhe, se ile, si com ile, consigo ?

References

  1. Folter, Regiane (9 March 2021). "Linguagem inclusiva e linguagem neutra: entenda a diferença!" [Inclusive language and neutral language: understand the difference!]. politize! (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  2. "Appendix:Portuguese pronouns". Wiktionary. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  3. Lobo, Cari; Gaigaia, V. "Linguagem não-binária ou neutra" [Non-binary or neutral language]. wikia (in Portuguese). Revised by Kumiho Lim. Retrieved 20 June 2021.