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Gender neutral language in French: Difference between revisions
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Today, many people refer to the contemporary introduction of feminine designations as '[https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/23983/banque-de-depannage-linguistique/la-redaction-et-la-communication/feminisation-et-redaction-epicene/synthese-sur-la-feminisation-lexicale-et-la-redaction-epicene féminisation]' ('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 'reféminisation'<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> ('refeminization') a more accurate term. | Today, many people refer to the contemporary introduction of feminine designations as '[https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/23983/banque-de-depannage-linguistique/la-redaction-et-la-communication/feminisation-et-redaction-epicene/synthese-sur-la-feminisation-lexicale-et-la-redaction-epicene féminisation]' ('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 'reféminisation'<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> ('refeminization') a more accurate term. | ||
Refeminization contributes to degendering French, as studies in various languages have demonstrated that the generic masculine, despite being considered gender-neutral by French prescriptive grammar ("Selon Le Bon Usage de Maurice Grevisse, l'adjectif se met donc au 'genre indifférencié, c'est-à-dire au masculin'."),<ref name=":3">Alchimy (2017): ''« Le masculin l’emporte sur le féminin » : Bien plus qu’une règle de grammaire''. In: ''Usbek&Rica.''</ref> is not actually cognitively neutral.<ref>Tibblin, J./Van De Weijer, J./Granfeldt, J./Gygax, P. (2023): There are more women in ''joggeur·euses'' than in ''joggeurs'' : On the effects of gender-fair forms on perceived gender ratios in French role nouns. In: ''J. Fr. Lang. Stud.'' ''33'', 28–51. 10.1017/S0959269522000217.</ref><ref>Heise, E. (2003): Auch einfühlsame Studenten sind Männer: Das generische Maskulinum und die mentale Repräsentation von Personen [Even empathic students are men: The generic masculine and the mental representation of persons]. In: ''Verhaltenstherapie & Psychosoziale Praxis 35''(2), 285–291.</ref> By incorporating the feminine form of a word, speakers acknowledge the presence of individuals of more genders than just one,<ref>Schütze, Christin (2020): ''Comprehension of Gender-neutral forms and the pseudo-generic masculine in German: a visual world eye-tracking study – ‘It goes without saying’ that everyone is included?''. Master thesis. University of Potsdam. Available at: https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/48415/file/schuetze_diss.pdf (accessed 2 March 2026).</ref> and the interchangeability of the masculine versus feminine terms as a result of the growing similarity in their distributions contribute to decoupling biological sex or | Refeminization contributes to degendering French, as studies in various languages have demonstrated that the generic masculine, despite being considered gender-neutral by French prescriptive grammar ("Selon Le Bon Usage de Maurice Grevisse, l'adjectif se met donc au 'genre indifférencié, c'est-à-dire au masculin'."),<ref name=":3">Alchimy (2017): ''« Le masculin l’emporte sur le féminin » : Bien plus qu’une règle de grammaire''. In: ''Usbek&Rica.''</ref> is not actually cognitively neutral.<ref>Tibblin, J./Van De Weijer, J./Granfeldt, J./Gygax, P. (2023): There are more women in ''joggeur·euses'' than in ''joggeurs'' : On the effects of gender-fair forms on perceived gender ratios in French role nouns. In: ''J. Fr. Lang. Stud.'' ''33'', 28–51. 10.1017/S0959269522000217.</ref><ref>Heise, E. (2003): Auch einfühlsame Studenten sind Männer: Das generische Maskulinum und die mentale Repräsentation von Personen [Even empathic students are men: The generic masculine and the mental representation of persons]. In: ''Verhaltenstherapie & Psychosoziale Praxis 35''(2), 285–291.</ref> By incorporating the feminine form of a word, speakers acknowledge the presence of individuals of more genders than just one,<ref>Schütze, Christin (2020): ''Comprehension of Gender-neutral forms and the pseudo-generic masculine in German: a visual world eye-tracking study – ‘It goes without saying’ that everyone is included?''. Master thesis. University of Potsdam. Available at: https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/48415/file/schuetze_diss.pdf (accessed 2 March 2026).</ref> and the interchangeability of the masculine versus feminine terms as a result of the growing similarity in their distributions contribute to decoupling [[wikipedia:Sex|biological sex]], [https://eige.europa.eu/publications-resources/thesaurus/terms/1335 gender position] or [[wikipedia:Gender_identity|gender identity]] (cf. [[wikipedia:Sex_assignment|sex assignment]]) from the specific contexts they tend to be associated with. | ||
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===Shortened doublets=== | ===Shortened doublets=== | ||
The feminine suffix is attached to the masculine, rather than the whole word being repeated (as in classical doublets).<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":4" /> | The feminine [[wikipedia:Suffix|suffix]] is attached to the masculine, rather than the whole word being repeated (as in classical doublets).<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":4" /> | ||
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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 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 | 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 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 === | === Monogender epicene nouns and collective terms === | ||