English neutral pronouns: Difference between revisions

'''A''' (nominative form only). "In 1789, William H. Marshall records […] Middle English epicene ‘a’, used by the 14th century English writer John of Trevisa and both the OED and Wright's English Dialect Dictionary confirm the use of ‘a’ for he, she, it, they, and even I. This ‘a’ is a reduced form of the Anglo-Saxon he = ‘he’ and heo = ‘she’.” Source: Baron, Dennis (1986). Grammar and Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03526-8. as cited by: Williams, John (1990s)." <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100418022839/http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/history.html "History - Native-English GNPs". Gender-Neutral Pronoun FAQ.] Retrieved 2007-01-01.</ref> Some living British dialects still use the gender-neutral "a" pronoun.<ref>"Epicene pronouns." ''American Heritage Book of English Usage''. [http://web.archive.org/web/20080630041424/http://www.bartleby.com/64/C005/004.html http://web.archive.org/web/20080630041424/http://www.bartleby.com/64/C005/004.html]</ref>