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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 [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generisches_Maskulinum 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 [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(Sprachwissenschaft) 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. | Refeminization contributes to degendering French, as studies in various languages have demonstrated that [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generisches_Maskulinum 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 [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(Sprachwissenschaft) distributions] contribute to decoupling [[wikipedia:Sex|biological sex]], [https://eige.europa.eu/publications-resources/thesaurus/terms/1335 social gender/gender position] or [[wikipedia:Gender_identity|gender identity]] (cf. [[wikipedia:Sex_assignment|sex assignment]]) from the specific contexts they tend to be associated with. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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===Doublets=== | ===Doublets=== | ||
For example, « Nous prions les <u>étudiantes</u> et (les) <u>étudiants</u> de remettre leur copie à la personne responsable ». Some people don't enjoy the repetition,<ref name=":10">OMPI (2022): ''Guide de l’OMPI pour un langage inclusif en français''. Online at: https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/women-and-ip/fr/docs/guidelines-inclusive-language.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> others consider that the doublets don't encompass all genders,<ref name=":4">Ménard, J.-S. (2021): ''Pour un français neutre et une inclusion des personnes non binaires : une entrevue avec Florence Ashley''. Longueuil: Cégep Édouard-Montpetit. Online at:https://www.cegepmontpetit.ca/static/uploaded/Files/Cegep/Centre%20de%20reference/Le%20francais%20saffiche/Une-entrevue-avec-Florence-Ashley.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> others again are unsure which form to mention first, since the order conveys information about the value the speaker gives to each item.<ref>Pascal, G./Boschard, Μ./Cornet, G./Croci, M./Stegmann, N. (2021): ''Les outils - la (re)féminisation. Langage inclusif''. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20231225213750/https://tube.switch.ch/videos/0xwYktNzRp, 00:50 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> | For example, « Nous prions les <u>étudiantes</u> et (les) <u>étudiants</u> de remettre leur copie à la personne responsable ». Some people don't enjoy the repetition,<ref name=":10">OMPI (2022): ''Guide de l’OMPI pour un langage inclusif en français''. Online at: https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/women-and-ip/fr/docs/guidelines-inclusive-language.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> others consider that the doublets don't encompass all genders,<ref name=":4">Ménard, J.-S. (2021): ''Pour un français neutre et une inclusion des personnes non binaires : une entrevue avec Florence Ashley''. Longueuil: Cégep Édouard-Montpetit. Online at:https://web.archive.org/web/20231201073105/https://www.cegepmontpetit.ca/static/uploaded/Files/Cegep/Centre%20de%20reference/Le%20francais%20saffiche/Une-entrevue-avec-Florence-Ashley.pdf (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> others again are unsure which form to mention first, since the order conveys information about the value the speaker gives to each item.<ref>Pascal, G./Boschard, Μ./Cornet, G./Croci, M./Stegmann, N. (2021): ''Les outils - la (re)féminisation. Langage inclusif''. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20231225213750/https://tube.switch.ch/videos/0xwYktNzRp, 00:50 (retrieved 12.12.2023).</ref> | ||
===Shortened doublets=== | ===Shortened doublets=== | ||
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|Notice the epicene agentive suffix [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/-aire -aire]. | |Notice the epicene agentive suffix [https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/-aire -aire]. | ||
|} | |} | ||
As singular [[wikipedia:Article_(grammar)|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 morphologically invariant occupational titles for all professions or functions in regards to [https://www.plus.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Gender_in_German_MWerner.pdf ''Sexus''].<ref | As singular [[wikipedia:Article_(grammar)|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 morphologically invariant occupational titles for all professions or functions in regards to [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gender natural gender], i. e. [https://www.plus.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Gender_in_German_MWerner.pdf ''Sexus''], "a linguistic category for the sex of real life beings, both the biological sex of animals or the social identity of a person."<ref>"Natural Gender". ''Wikipedia. Simple English: The Free Encyclopedia'', Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Last Modified Date: 14 March 2024, URL: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gender. Accessed 20 March 2026.</ref> | ||
In certain Swiss-French varieties, as in the canton of Vaud, masculine and feminine words ending in <é> resp. <ée> are pronounced differently (e. g., ''une employée'' [ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:</u>]/[ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:j</u>] vs. ''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 [[wikipedia:Franco-Provençal|Franco-Provençal dialects]] spoken in the region before linguistic homogenization) is being [[wikipedia:Neutralization_(linguistics)|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 indistinguishable. | In certain Swiss-French varieties, as in the canton of Vaud, masculine and feminine words ending in <é> resp. <ée> are pronounced differently (e. g., ''une employée'' [ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:</u>]/[ynɑ̃plwaj<u>e:j</u>] vs. ''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 [[wikipedia:Franco-Provençal|Franco-Provençal dialects]] spoken in the region before linguistic homogenization) is being [[wikipedia:Neutralization_(linguistics)|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 indistinguishable. | ||
=== Fixed-gender [[wikipedia:Epicenity|epicenes]] and [[wikipedia:Collective_noun|collective nouns]] === | === Fixed-gender [[wikipedia:Epicenity|epicenes]] and [[wikipedia:Collective_noun|collective nouns]] === | ||
While human collective nouns — such as ''l'auditoire'' ('the audience') or ''le public'' ('the public')— inherently carry the semantic feature [+human], their relationship to natural gender/''Sexus'' diverges from that of individual personal nouns. Unlike fixed-gender epicenes (e.g., ''la sentinelle'', 'the sentry'), where a specific individual referent does indeed posses a gender/''Sexus'' that the noun's morphology simply ignores (rendering the form ''Sexus''-independent), collective nouns denote a macro-entity. In formal semantics, a multitude functioning as a single constituent does not inherently possess a natural gender. Thus, in collective nouns, the semantic feature of ''Sexus'' is not merely omitted, but is rather structurally completely absent (∅). In this respect, human collective nouns operate similarly to [[wikipedia:Animacy|inanimate]] objects (e.g., ''la chaise'', 'the chair'): they are assigned a [[wikipedia:Grammatical_gender|grammatical gender]]/''Genus'', but the semantic category of natural gender/Sexus is inherently inapplicable to them. | |||
To classify the grammatical strategies for making French more gender-inclusive or gender-neutral, we need to distinguish between: | |||
# '''''Sexus''-applicable nouns referring to animates''' | |||
## '''Gender-specific nouns''' | |||
### '''morphologically gendered nouns''', where the noun gets its ''Sexus''-specification through derivation from gender-marked agentive affixes (compare ''acteur'' vs. ''actrice''). | |||
### '''lexically gendered nouns''', where the ''Sexus''-specification is inherent to the [[wikipedia:Lexeme|lexeme]] (compare ''sœur'', 'sister', or: ''mec'', 'dude') | |||
## '''Fixed-gender epicene nouns''', where the natural gender/''Sexus'' of the agent noun gets "overwritten" by grammatical gender/''Genus'' (''cf''. | |||
# '''''Sexus''-inapplicable nouns referring to animates''' | |||
## Collective nouns | |||
This distinction is tripartite, comprising Sexus-dependent, Sexus-independent, and Sexus-inapplicable nouns, which underpins the morphological oppositions presented in the two following tables. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Individual ''versus'' collective nouns<ref name=":11" /> | |+Individual ''versus'' collective nouns<ref name=":11" /> | ||
!Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') '''<small>morphologically gendered nouns</small>''' | !Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') '''<small>morphologically gendered nouns</small>''' | ||
! | !Collective nouns (''Genus'') | ||
|- | |- | ||
|'''Les auditrices et auditeurs''' sont attentifs. | |'''Les auditrices et auditeurs''' sont attentifs. | ||
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==Neologisms== | ==Neologisms== | ||
=== Methodological Note === | |||
In the accompanying tables, the most widely adopted neologisms are italicized. Unless explicitly noted and justified within the text, all neologisms and morphological rules discussed in this article are attested across French-speaking online communities and digital platforms. A comprehensive inventory of these primary sources is provided in the "Main Resources" section at the end of this article. | |||
===[[wikipedia:Personal_pronoun|Personal pronouns]]=== | ===[[wikipedia:Personal_pronoun|Personal pronouns]]=== | ||
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==== [[wikipedia:Indefinite_pronoun|Indefinite pronouns and adjectives]] ==== | ==== [[wikipedia:Indefinite_pronoun|Indefinite pronouns and adjectives]] ==== | ||
Semantically, many indefinite pronouns (such as ''chacun'' or ''quelqu'un'') share the [+human] trait of personal pronouns, functioning essentially as unspecified human referents. However, because they are quantificational rather than referential, they lack a specific ''Sexus''. Consequently, enforcing binary grammatical gender (''Genus'') on these forms forces a specific morphological marker onto an inherently unspecified referent, invariably defaulting to the masculine generic in standard French. | Semantically, many indefinite pronouns (such as ''chacun'' or ''quelqu'un'') share the [+human] trait of personal pronouns, functioning essentially as unspecified human referents. However, because they are quantificational rather than referential, they lack a specific natural gender/''Sexus''. Consequently, enforcing binary grammatical gender (''Genus'') on these forms forces a specific morphological marker onto an inherently unspecified referent, invariably defaulting to the masculine generic in standard French. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
! | ! | ||
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|tous | |tous | ||
|toutes | |toutes | ||
|''toustes'' | |''toustes,'' touts <small>[tuts]</small> | ||
| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
!quelqu'un·e | !quelqu'un·e | ||
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===Determiners=== | ===Determiners=== | ||
==== Grammatical note ==== | |||
Unlike articles, demonstrative or possessive adjectives, pronouns aren't technically determiners. For readability reasons, and because they form a relatively small paradigm compared to their corresponding adjectives, they're included in the determiners category because they're thematically coppled with the respective (demonstrative or possessive) adjectives. | |||
====Indefinite and definite article==== | ====Indefinite and definite article==== | ||
In the discourse surrounding gender-inclusive language in French, the distinction between compounds that [[wikipedia:Portmanteau|blend]] or [[wikipedia:Concatenation|concatenate]] gender-marked [[wikipedia:Agent_nouns|agentive suffixes]] (e.g.: ''direct<u>eur</u>'''ice''''') ''versus'' lexical (e.g.: ''sœur'' and ''frère'' → ''adelphe'') and morphological [[wikipedia:Lexical_substitution|substitutions]] (→ cognitive approach) respectively [[wikipedia:Morphological_derivation|morphological derivations]] (→ structural approach), such as the epicene derivation 'direct<u>aire</u>', are usually referred to as ''inclusif'' vs. ''neutre'' in queer-positive communities. | In the discourse surrounding gender-inclusive language in French, the distinction between compounds that [[wikipedia:Portmanteau|blend]] or [[wikipedia:Concatenation|concatenate]] gender-marked [[wikipedia:Agent_nouns|agentive suffixes]] (e.g.: ''direct<u>eur</u>'''ice''''') ''versus'' lexical (e.g.: ''sœur'' and ''frère'' → ''adelphe'') and morphological [[wikipedia:Lexical_substitution|substitutions]] (→ cognitive approach) respectively [[wikipedia:Morphological_derivation|morphological derivations]] (→ structural approach), such as the epicene derivation 'direct<u>aire</u>', are usually referred to as ''inclusif'' vs. ''neutre'' in queer-positive communities. | ||
However, the concatenation of gender-marked agentive suffixes adds the missing gender, i.e. | However, the concatenation of gender-marked agentive suffixes adds the missing gender, i.e. natural gender/''Sexus'' [[wikipedia:Sememe|sememe]] to the given [[wikipedia:English_nouns|personal noun]], turn [[wikipedia:Agent_noun|agent nouns]] from single-gender personal noun to dual-gender masculine/feminine personal noun.<ref name=":0" /> Accordingly, they could theoretically be cognitively interpreted as neutral, to the extent that these forms could theoretically be cognitively processed as genderneutral, i. e. ''neutre''. Because the use of these neologisms remains peripheral in spoken French, psycholinguistic research has yet to disconfirm this possibility. | ||
Conversely, agent nouns categorized as ''neutre'' — such as epicene derivations (e.g., ''coiffaire'', which attaches the gender-unspecific suffix ''-aire'' to a verbal root) or lexical substitutions (e.g., ''Monestre'', 'Mx'), as discussed higher — are inherently inclusive of all genders, making the label ''inclusif'' equally applicable to them. The pragmatic interchangeability of these labels renders them inadequate for differentiating the morphological mechanisms used to generate gender-inclusive neologisms in French. For this reason, the following table categorizes these strategies based on their structural properties — blend words being more [[wikipedia:Analytic_language|analytic]], and non blend words (epicene derivations; lexical substitions) being more [[wikipedia:Synthetic_language|synthetic]]. | Conversely, agent nouns categorized as ''neutre'' — such as epicene derivations (e.g., ''coiffaire'', which attaches the gender-unspecific suffix ''-aire'' to a verbal root) or lexical substitutions (e.g., ''Monestre'', 'Mx'), as discussed higher — are inherently inclusive of all genders, making the label ''inclusif'' equally applicable to them. The pragmatic interchangeability of these labels renders them inadequate for differentiating the morphological mechanisms used to generate gender-inclusive neologisms in French. For this reason, the following table categorizes these strategies based on their structural properties — blend words being more [[wikipedia:Analytic_language|analytic]], and non blend words (epicene derivations; lexical substitions) being more [[wikipedia:Synthetic_language|synthetic]]. | ||
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Florence Ashley argues that the order in which the feminine and masculine morphemes are combined does not matter.<ref name=":5" /> Usage, intelligibleness and personal preference ultimately determine which forms will gain traction. However, the prosodic sequencing of syllables in French can impact intelligibility. For instance, in the pronunciation of 'naïvif' (neutral form) as [na'i'<u>vif</u>], contrary to 'naïfive', the end of the word is acoustically identical to 'vif' (i. e. 'vivacious') and can thus lead to confusion. | Florence Ashley argues that the order in which the feminine and masculine morphemes are combined does not matter.<ref name=":5" /> Usage, intelligibleness and personal preference ultimately determine which forms will gain traction. However, the prosodic sequencing of syllables in French can impact intelligibility. For instance, in the pronunciation of 'naïvif' (neutral form) as [na'i'<u>vif</u>], contrary to 'naïfive', the end of the word is acoustically identical to 'vif' (i. e. 'vivacious') and can thus lead to confusion. | ||
==== Gender-neutral suggestions for some gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'')==== | ==== Gender-neutral suggestions for some gender-specific nouns (natural gender/''Sexus'')==== | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') and current gender-neutral suggestions | |+Gender-specific nouns (''Sexus'') and current gender-neutral suggestions | ||