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Gender neutral language in French: Difference between revisions
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{{WIP|Cmaass}} | {{WIP|Cmaass}} | ||
{{Gender neutral language}} | {{Gender neutral language}} | ||
Nowadays, French knows only two genders: feminine and masculine. Activists have started seeking | Nowadays, French knows only two genders: feminine and masculine. Activists have started seeking solutions to degender the language as much as possible and, therefore, make it more inclusive. These solutions entail neologisms as well as non neologisms. Here we present the still ongoing quest for (grammatical) gender inclusivity in the French language. | ||
== Non neologisms == | == Non neologisms == | ||
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|une <small>[y<u>n</u>]</small> | |une <small>[y<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|eune <small>[<u>œn</u>]</small> | |eune <small>[<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
|''an'' <small>[ | |''an'' <small>[ɑ̃]/[an]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!Definite article | !Definite article | ||
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|''lo'', li, lu, lia | |''lo'', li, lu, lia | ||
|} | |} | ||
Although 'an' is quite common, particularly in the [ | Although 'an' is quite common, particularly in the [ɑ̃] pronunciation, where it shares a core feature with 'un': both consist solely of a nasal vowel. 'eune' [<u>œ</u>n] combines the vocal roundedness of 'un' [<u>œ̃</u>] with the terminal nasal consonant [n] of 'une'. In metropolitan French, where 'un' is typically pronounced as [ɛ̃], 'eune' shares a phonetic characteristic exclusively with 'une' through the final [n] and with 'un' through their similar degree of aperture. A drawback of 'an' pronounced as [ɑ̃], however, is its nasality, a factor known for making vowels challenging to distinguish and learn, even for native French speakers.<ref>Etienne Sicard, Anne Menin-Sicard, Gabriel Rousteau. Oppositions de voyelles orales et nasales : identification des formants selon le genre. INSA Toulouse. 2022. ffhal-03826558v2f.</ref> Consequently, [ɑ̃] might be perceived as a mispronunciation of 'un' or simply not distinct enough from 'un' to be recognized as a separate morpheme. | ||
[[File:IPA vowel trapezium.png|alt=IPA vowel trapezium|thumb|IPA vowel trapezium for French]] | |||
==== Possessive adjectives ==== | ==== Possessive adjectives ==== | ||
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|ma | |ma | ||
|''maon'' <small>[maõ]</small> | |''maon'' <small>[maõ]</small> | ||
|''man'' <small>[ | |''man'' <small>[mɑ̃]/[man]</small>, mi(ne) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!2SG | !2SG | ||
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|ta | |ta | ||
|''taon'' <small>[taõ]</small> | |''taon'' <small>[taõ]</small> | ||
|''tan'' <small>[ | |''tan'' <small>[tɑ̃]/[tan]</small>, ti(ne) | ||
|- | |- | ||
!3SG | !3SG | ||
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|sa | |sa | ||
|''saon'' <small>[saõ]</small> | |''saon'' <small>[saõ]</small> | ||
|san <small>[ | |san <small>[sɑ̃]/[san]</small>, sine <small>[sin]</small> | ||
|} | |} | ||
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 [ | 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. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511486371.005.</ref><ref>Carvalho, Joaquim (Brandão de) (2023): “From binary features To elements: Implications for markedness theory and phonological acquisition”. In: ''Radical: A Journal of Phonology'' 3, 346-384. Here specifically: 352-353.</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 from Alpheratz. 'sine' would be the only one without an optional '-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.</ref> in Norwegian,<ref>Norwegian University of Science and Technology (no data): ''8 Grammar. Possessives''. Online at: https://www.ntnu.edu/now/8/grammar.</ref> in Swiss-German,<ref>Klaudia Kolbe (2017): ''Schweizerdeutsch. Schlüssel zu den Übungen.'' Online at: https://silo.tips/download/schweizerdeutsch-schlssel-zu-den-bungen.</ref> and in other Germanic languages. As 60% of of humans are multilingual,<ref>Sean McGibney (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.</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 GJ, DIJKSTRA T, UNSWORTH S. (2022): Cross-linguistic influence in simultaneous and early sequential bilingual children: a meta-analysis. In: ''Journal of Child Language'' 5, :897-929. doi:10.1017/S0305000921000337.</ref><ref>van Dijk C, Dijkstra T, Unsworth S. Cross-linguistic influence during online sentence processing in bilingual children (2022): In: ''Bilingualism: Language and Cognition'' 4, 691-704. doi:10.1017/S1366728922000050.</ref> | ||
==== Demonstrative adjective ==== | ==== Demonstrative adjective ==== | ||
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|aucune <small>[oky<u>n</u>]</small> | |aucune <small>[oky<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|aucunn <small>[ok<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, aucueune <small>[ok<u>œn</u>]</small> | |aucunn <small>[ok<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, aucueune <small>[ok<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
|aucan <small>[ | |aucan <small>[okɑ̃]/[okan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!chacun·e | !chacun·e | ||
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|chacune <small>[ʃaky<u>n</u>]</small> | |chacune <small>[ʃaky<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|chacunn <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, chacueune <small>[ʃak<u>œn</u>]</small> | |chacunn <small>[ʃak<u>œ̃n</u>]</small>, chacueune <small>[ʃak<u>œn</u>]</small> | ||
|chacan <small>[ | |chacan <small>[ʃakɑ̃]/[ʃakan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!certain·e | !certain·e | ||
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|certaine <small>[sɛʁtɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | |certaine <small>[sɛʁtɛ<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|certainn <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | |certainn <small>[sɛʁt<u>ɛ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
|certan <small>[ | |certan <small>[sɛʁtɑ̃]/[sɛʁtan]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
!tout·e | !tout·e | ||
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|- | |- | ||
!-an/-anne | !-an/-anne | ||
|paysan <small>[pɛiz<u> | |paysan <small>[pɛiz<u>ɑ̃</u>]</small> | ||
|paysanne <small>[pɛiza<u>n</u>]</small> | |paysanne <small>[pɛiza<u>n</u>]</small> | ||
|paysann <small>[pɛiz<u> | |paysann <small>[pɛiz<u>ɑ̃n</u>]</small> | ||
|''paysaine'' <small>[pɛizɛn]</small> | |''paysaine'' <small>[pɛizɛn]</small> | ||
|- | |- | ||
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|héroïne | |héroïne | ||
|héroïnos | |héroïnos | ||
|héroan <small>[ | |héroan <small>[eʁoɑ̃]/[eʁoan]</small>, héroal | ||
|- | |- | ||
|frère | |frère | ||