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Gender neutral language in Swedish: Difference between revisions
→<translate> Generic pronoun</translate>
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<translate><!--T:20--> To refer to people in general in Swedish, the pronouns "man/en/en" (one/one/one’s) or "en/en/ens" (one/one/one’s) can be used. Swedish’s generic pronoun man/en/ens has been discussed for being male-generalizing, and some people have opted to use en/en/ens instead to make it gender inclusive. The word "man" may have the meaning of "human" in addition to the meaning "male person", but this word is still more associated with male people. Using "en" instead of "man" is not only more gender-inclusivity through being non-male-generalizing, but it is also frequently practiced in some of Sweden's regions, so it is a natural grammatical dialect variation in the Swedish language. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221102131452/https://www4.isof.se/cgi-bin/srfl/visasvar.py?sok=man&svar=78373&log_id=909986] | <translate><!--T:20--> To refer to people in general in Swedish, the pronouns "man/en/en" (one/one/one’s) or "en/en/ens" (one/one/one’s) can be used. Swedish’s generic pronoun man/en/ens has been discussed for being male-generalizing, and some people have opted to use en/en/ens instead to make it gender inclusive. The word "man" may have the meaning of "human" in addition to the meaning "male person", but this word is still more associated with male people. Using "en" instead of "man" is not only more gender-inclusivity through being non-male-generalizing, but it is also frequently practiced in some of Sweden's regions, so it is a natural grammatical dialect variation in the Swedish language. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221102131452/https://www4.isof.se/cgi-bin/srfl/visasvar.py?sok=man&svar=78373&log_id=909986] | ||
For when it feels awkward to use man/en, alternative phrasing as to avoid using such a pronoun are | For when it feels awkward to use man/en, alternative phrasing as to avoid using such a pronoun are recommended: | ||
One problem that can occur with the pronouns "man/en" is that the pronouns can hide who is doing what in the sentence. This is especially true in sentences where different acting parts are referred to and the | One problem that can occur with the pronouns "man/en" is that the pronouns can hide who is doing what in the sentence. This is especially true in sentences where different acting parts are referred to and the pronouns can be replaced with pretty much any pronoun or noun. So instead of: | ||
* ”På kundtjänst har '''man/en''' problem med att '''man/en''' ställer otydliga frågor.” That could be read as either: ”På kundtjänst har '''de''' problem med att '''du''' ställer otydliga frågor.” or ”På kundtjänst har '''ingen''' problem med att '''alla''' ställer otydliga frågor.” One can instead write out the specific acting parts such as ”På kundtjänst har '''vi''' problem med att '''kunderna''' ställer otydliga frågor.” | * ”På kundtjänst har '''man/en''' problem med att '''man/en''' ställer otydliga frågor.” That could be read as either: ”På kundtjänst har '''de''' problem med att '''du''' ställer otydliga frågor.” or ”På kundtjänst har '''ingen''' problem med att '''alla''' ställer otydliga frågor.” One can instead write out the specific acting parts such as ”På kundtjänst har '''vi''' problem med att '''kunderna''' ställer otydliga frågor.” | ||
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A good rule of thumb is to always state who is doing what. This will prevent readers from wondering who you are referring to. And if you can address the reader directly with "you", that is usually the clearest thing. | A good rule of thumb is to always state who is doing what. This will prevent readers from wondering who you are referring to. And if you can address the reader directly with "you", that is usually the clearest thing. | ||
"Man/en" is a way of showing that a statement is universal or general, for example, | "Man/en" is a way of showing that a statement is universal or general, for example, “man/en ska inte ljuga.” (One shouldn't lie.) But there are other ways of expressing yourself that are also general: | ||
* ”Ingen får ljuga.” (No one gets to lie.) | * ”Ingen får ljuga.” (No one gets to lie.) | ||