Talk:English neutral pronouns

    From Nonbinary Wiki

    Themself incorrect?[edit source]

    Isn't themself incorrect? The them is plural, and self is singular. It seems it should either be themselves or theirself. I think that themselves should be used because it's plural so consistent with all the other forms of this neutral pronoun: they, them, their, theirs.

    The word "themself" is in the Oxford English Dictionary, which reports that it has been in use since the 14th century: https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/themself By the way, please sign your talk entries so conversations make sense later; see Help on talk pages to learn how. -Frameacloud (talk) 22:50, 27 June 2015 (CDT)
    In response to your concerns, I expanded the entry for "they" to include all four versions of its reflexive form (themself, theirself, theirselves, themselves) with dictionary sources cited to demonstrate that each form is commonly used. -Frameacloud (talk) 23:14, 27 June 2015 (CDT)

    In English we happily say "You yourself are a painter" - in singular "yourself" is fine and accepted. It'd be consistent for us to use "themself" for an individual, too. --Cassolotl (talk) pronouns: they/them 13:36, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

    English pronouns that don't meet notability requirements[edit source]

    This section is for English pronouns that don't cite any sources, are used by only one or two real people, or were used by few or no respondants to the Gender Census. The entries can be moved to the main article if they cite sources, and are used by many real people, and many respondants to the Gender Census.

    *e (splat pronouns)[edit source]

    *e, h*, h*s, h*s, h*self (this was the exact set used in LambdaMOO).[1][2] Called "splat pronouns," because the asterisk symbol is also called a "splat," these all use an asterisk to represent ambiguity between "he" and "she."

    Usage:

    Some software and Internet resources in the 1990s used them informally as gender-neutral pronouns. The multi-user online environment LambdaMOO offered these "splat" pronouns in addition to "Spivak" pronouns. In 2002, 10 out of 4061 people on LambdaMOO had chosen to use splat pronouns for themselves.[3] However, splat pronouns didn't make an appearance in the 2015 or 2016 Nonbinary Stats surveys.

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke *e laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug h*.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, h*s hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow h*s.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds h*self.

    On Pronoun Island: [http://pronoun.is/*e/h*/h*s/h*s/h*self http://pronoun.is/*e/h*/h*s/h*s/h*self

    Ae[edit source]

    ae, aer, aer, aers, aerself. "In David Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus (1920) a man from earth meets people on another planet who are neither man nor woman so he invents a new pronoun ae to refer to them."[4]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ae laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug aer.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, aer hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If my mobile phone runs out of power, ae lets me borrow aers.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds aerself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: No evidence of usage. Nonbinary Stats survey 2016 had only two respondents using it out of over 3,000.

    Ala[edit source]

    ala, alum, alis, ?, ?. Created in 1989, "Michael Knab, of Goodwin, Knab and Co., Chicago, derives these from [Latin] al, 'other' and feels they resemble the Hawaiian sex-neutral pronouns oia, ia."[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ala laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug alum.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, alis hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Some forms are unknown.

    Ble[edit source]

    See racial pronouns.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Because I think if a pronoun is notable and listed it should be listed under its name in full, and a "see also: racial pronouns" added.

    Bun[edit source]

    See nounself pronouns.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Because I think if a pronoun is notable and listed it should be listed under its name in full, and a "see also: (section)" added.

    Ce[edit source]

    ce, cir, cir, cirs, cirself. Created by Taz (Tumblr user jackalwedding) in 2014 (or earlier?),[6] who went by these pronouns cirself.[7]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ce laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug cir.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, cir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow cirs.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds cirself.

    On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/ce/cir/cir/cirs/cirself

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability. In the Nonbinary Stats 2016 survey, it was entered once in over 3,000 participants.[8]

    Che[edit source]

    che, chim, chis, chis, chimself. A set of gender-neutral pronouns listed in Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage under epicene pronouns.[9]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke che laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug chim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, chis hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow chis.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds chimself.

    On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/che/chim/chis/chis/chimself

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability. No indication of its actual use in any literature, whether fiction or nonfiction, aside from its appearance in Merriam Webster. This leads one to suspect that it may have been a deliberately fictitious entry. Other dictionaries, such as the New Oxford American Dictionary, have been known to include fictitious entries as copyright traps. Regardless of its origins, it also doesn't seem popularly used among real nonbinary people. "Che" pronouns weren't entered in the 2015 or 2016 Nonbinary Stats surveys.

    Co[edit source]

    co, co, co's (cos), co's, coself. Mary Orovan created these in 1970, derived from the Indo-European *ko, as an inclusive alternative to "he or she."[5][10] In the pages about inclusive pronouns in the book Words and Women, authors Miller and Swift talk about this pronoun's origins, history, and contemporary usage:

    "'Humanizing English,' an eight-page pamphlet first published in 1970, included [Mary] Orovan's proposed common gender pronoun co, which is now being used in everyday speech and writing by members of several alternative-life-style communities. Twin Oaks Community, a group of some sixty adults and children living in Louisa, Virginia, adopted Orovan's nonsexist grammatical form in 1972. The pronoun has since spread to other communities in Virginia and Missouri, is used in a book on radical therapy published in 1973 by Harper & Row, and it routinely replaces 'he or she' or 'he/she' in the magazine Communities,' which is addressed to cooperative-living groups across the country. Orovan derived co from the Indo-European root form ko, the common ancestor of both the masculine and feminine English pronouns. Co, with its suggestion of 'together,' is not used to replace either the masculine or feminine pronoun when applied to a specific individual, but only as an alternative to the unisex generic he. Twin Oaks' newsletter Leaves, for example, comments in an article on communal work undertaken by members, 'Vacations are indeed a burden for the remaining members, but everyone takes cos turn at carrying the burden.'"[11]

    Today, "Co" is still used in some intentional communities, such as in the legal policies of Twin Oaks in Virginia, which provides information on the pronoun in its visitor guide web page.

    Use by people: In the 2018 Gender Census, only one respondent entered co/co/cos/cos/coself as cos favourite pronoun.[12]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke co laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug co.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, co's hair grows long. (Or cos hair grows.)
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow co's.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds coself.

    On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/co/co/co's/co's/coself

    Em[edit source]

    em, ?, ems, ems, ?. Created in 1977 by "Jeffrey J. Smith, [who] felt strongly enough about them to start the Em Institute and put out the Em Institute Newsletter under the pseudonym 'TIN-TAJL jefry'".[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke em laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ems hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ems.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Also, some forms missing.

    E[edit source]

    Some variants of the E pronouns are less common.

    E (es)[edit source]

    e, em, es (e's), (e's), (not recorded). Created in 1890 by James Rogers of Crestview, Florida.[13][5] In about 1977, version where all forms starts with capital letters was independently "created by psychologist Donald G. MacKay of the University of California at Los Angeles."[5] In 1989, independently created by Victor J. Stone, Professor of Law.[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke e (or E) laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug em.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, es hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: (not recorded)
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds emself.[14]

    Et[edit source]

    et, et, ets, ets, etself. Created by Aline Hoffman of Sarnia, Ontario, and published in Brave New Words (1979).[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke et laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug et.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ets hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ets.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds etself.

    On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/et/et/ets/ets/etself

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Fawn[edit source]

    See nounself pronouns.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Because I think if a pronoun is notable and listed it should be listed under its name in full, and a "see also: (section)" added.

    Ha[edit source]

    ha, hem, hez, ?, ?. Coined in 1927, [13] and "attributed by H. L. Mencken to Lincoln King, of Primghar, Iowa."[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ha laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hez hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Some forms missing.

    He'er[edit source]

    he'er, him'er, his'er, his'er's, his'er'self. An inclusive pronoun that was proposed in 1912 by Ella Flagg Young.[13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke he'er laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug him'er.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, his'er hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow his'er's.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds his'er'self.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Heesh[edit source]

    Several sets of pronouns use "heesh" in the nominative form, the oldest from 1934. The idea is to combine "he" and "she" to create an inclusive pronoun. In alphabetical order:


    heesh, ?, heesh's, heesh's, heeshself. Poul Anderson used these in a science fiction story, The Day of Their Return (1973) to refer to a species with three sexes.[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, heesh's hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow heesh's.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds heeshself.


    heesh, herm, hiser, hisers, hermself. Created in 1978 by Leonara Timm, in the International Journal of Women's Studies.[13][5] Caution: herm is also an offensive word for an intersex person.

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug herm.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hiser hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hisers.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds hermself.


    heesh, himer, hiser, ?, ?. Created in 1934.[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug himer.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hiser hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?


    heesh, hir, hir, ?, ?. This was the earliest recorded example of the gender-neutral pronoun "hir" on the Internet, which was in a science fiction fan newsgroup in 1981.[15][16]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heesh laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hir.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Many forms missing.

    Hesh[edit source]

    Several sets of neologistic pronouns use "hesh" in the nominative form, in an attempt to combine "he" and "she." In alphabetical order:

    hesh, himmer, hizzer, ?, ?. Created in 1927.[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hesh laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug himmer.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hizzer hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?


    hesh, hiser, himer, himer, hermself. Created by feminist Jan Verley Archer in the 1975 issue of Media Report to Women.[13][5] Caution: "herm" is also an offensive word for an intersex person.

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hesh laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hiser.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, himer hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow himer.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds hermself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Many forms missing.

    Heshe[edit source]

    Several sets of neologistic pronouns use "heshe" in the nominative form, in an attempt to combine "he" and "she" to create an inclusive pronoun. Caution: "he-she" is also an offensive word for a transgender person. In alphabetical order:


    heshe, hem, hes, ?, ?. Created in 1981, combining "he" and "she".[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heshe laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hes hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?


    heshe, himmer, hisher, ?, ?. Created in 1977.[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke heshe laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug himmer.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hisher hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Many forms missing.

    Hey[edit source]

    hey, ?, heir, heirs, ?. Created in 1979 by Paul Encimer, with the intent to combine "he" and "their" to create an inclusive pronoun.[13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hey laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, heir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow heirs.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Forms missing.

    Hi[edit source]

    Several sets of gender-neutral pronouns use "hi" in the nominative form. In alphabetical order, they are:


    hi, hem, hes, ?, ?. Created in 1884 by Francis H. Williams.[13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hi laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hes hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?


    hi, hir, hir, hirs, hirself. According to Kip Manley, this set of pronouns was used in some science fiction in the 1980s. However, Manley wasn't able to give any examples.[16]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hi laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hir.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hirs.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds hirself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Forms missing.

    Hie[edit source]

    hie, hie (?), hiez (?), ov hie, ?. In 1914, Mont Follick created this pronoun set, based on the pronunciation of "he" pronouns. Follick proposed that we reform the language so that these replace all third person singular pronouns in English.[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hie laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: ?
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ov hie.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Forms missing.

    Ho[edit source]

    ho, hom, hos, ?, homself. Derived from Latin homo, "human", and the prefix homo-, "the same, equal, like." Created by Donald K. Darnell in a 1976 issue of Persons Communicating. [13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ho laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hom.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hos hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds homself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8] Forms missing.

    Hu[edit source]

    hu, hum, hus, hus, humself. Several times since the 1970s, pronoun neologisms have been created based on a "humanist" model using human as a base or root source for pronouns. These attempts have been about using nominally gender-inclusive or neutral source etymologies in order to create new pronouns with familiar and hence more easily understood spelling and pronunciation. This new humanist model takes these prior efforts and expands it to include options for pronouns, nouns, honorifics and more--and an (eventually) complete framework / model for neutral and inclusive English.

    Pronunciation of hu is identical to the first part of human (i.e., like the name Hugh), and hum follows the same model (as in, human).

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hu laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hum.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hus hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hus.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds humself.

    On Posilicious: Gender Neutral and Inclusive Humanist English

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was entered only once in over 3,000 participants in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Hy[edit source]

    hy, hym, hys, hys, hymself. Although rarely used nowadays, these pronouns date back to Middle English, in which they were an alternate spelling of he/him/his/his/himself.

    A 1991 Usenet user wrote:

    « I rather like Norman Cousin's proposal for a new personal pronoun of indeterminate or insignificant gender (he made this back in the '60s): ne/ner/nim (as in Not He/She, Not her, and Not Him). Of course, we could always extend the "womyn" paradigm and spell he, his, and him with a "y": hy, hys, and hym.[17] »

    In 1997, another Usenet user noted these pronouns were in use as masculine pronouns for some members of the furry community.[18]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke hy laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hym.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hys hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hys.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds hymself.

    On Pronoun Island: https://pronoun.is/hy/hym/hys/hys/hymself

    Id[edit source]

    id, idre, ids, ids, idself. Used by Laurie Marks for characters of a genderless species in all three books of the Children of the Triad fantasy novel series: Delan the Mislaid (1989), The Moonbane Mage (1990), and Ara's Field (1991). Marks uses these pronouns for the title character and protagonist of the first book.[19]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke id laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug idre.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ids hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ids.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds idself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Ip[edit source]

    ip, ip, ips, ips, ipsself. Proposed in 1884 by Emma Carleton, probably derived from "it."[13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ip laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug ip.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ips hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ips.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds ipself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was entered only once in over 3,000 participants in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Ir[edit source]

    ir, im, iro, iros, iroself. A set of English gender-neutral pronouns from 1888.[9][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ir laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug im.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, iro hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow iros.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds iroself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Kai[edit source]

    kai, kaim, kais, kais, kaiself. A set of English gender-neutral pronouns created by novelist Janet Ganus for nonbinary characters, in 1998 or earlier.[9] Ganus also created a matching gender-neutral title, Kaiet, which is also a proper noun that serves the gender-neutral counterpart of "man" or "woman."

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke kai laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug kaim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, kais hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow kais.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds kaiself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Le[edit source]

    le, lem, les, les, lesself. A set of English gender-neutral pronouns proposed in 1884 by Edgar Alfred Stevens, borrowed from French.[9][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke le laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug lem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, les hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow les.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds lesself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Na[edit source]

    na, nan, nan, nan's, naself. June Arnold's story The Cook and the Carpenter, 1973, used this set of pronouns exclusively, for all people. Arnold may have created the pronouns.[3]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke na laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug nan.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, nan hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow nan's.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds naself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Notability citation missing - pronoun was not entered at all in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Re[edit source]

    re, erm, rees, rees, ?. In 2002, atheist activist Mike Newdow proposed these to replace all use of "he" and "she" pronouns.[20]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke re laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug erm.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, rees hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow rees.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Set is incomplete.

    Se[edit source]

    There are several similar sets that use "se" in the nominative form, the oldest of which was created in 1938. A list of its versions in alphabetical order:


    se, ?, ?, ?, ?. Created in 1975.[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: ?
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?


    se, hir, hir, hirs, hirself. In Richard Lupoff's short science fiction story "With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama" (1972), Lupoff used these pronouns for an entity comprised of a female extraterrestrial being inhabiting a dead male human body.[21] In 1992, this set of gender-neutral pronouns was commonly used on the Internet in newsgroups such as alt.sex.bondage.[5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hir.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hirs.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds hirself.


    se, sem, ses, ?, ?. Created in 1990.[13] Used for non-dyadic characters in Glenn Grant's story Memetic Drift, "published in Interzone magazine #34, March/April 1990; reprinted in Northern Stars: The Anthology of Canadian Science Fiction, Tor hardcover, 1994, edited by the author and G. Hartwell."[3]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug sem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ses hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?


    se, sim, ser, ?, simself. Created in 1973 by William Cowan, of the Department of Linguistics, Carleton University.[13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug sim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ser hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds simself.

    On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/ser


    se, sim, sis, ?, ?. Created in 1938 by Gregory Hynes.[13][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke se laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug sim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, sis hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Set is incomplete. None were entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Peh[edit source]

    peh, pehm, ?, peh's, ?. Used by Jenn Manley Lee in a science fiction graphic novel, Dicebox, as a gender non-specific pronoun, for when a person's gender is either irrelevant or nonbinary.[22][23]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke peh laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug pehm.
    • Pronominal possessive: ?
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow peh's.
    • Reflexive: ?

    On Pronoun Island: http://pronoun.is/peh

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Set is incomplete. None were entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Phe[edit source]

    phe, per, pers, pers, perself. The phe/per pronoun set was created as an alternative to per/per, since per is already a word in English (meaning according to).[24]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke phe laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug per.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, pers hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow pers.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds perself.

    Usage: In the 2019 Gender Census, no participants chose "phe/per" as an option.[12] Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Shey[edit source]

    shey, shem, sheir, sheirs, sheirself. The same set was independently created (or perhaps only used) in 1973, 1979, and 1982.[13][5] The idea is to combine "she" and "they."

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke shey laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug shem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, sheir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow sheirs.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds sheirself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Shem[edit source]

    shem, hem, hes, ?, ?. Created in 1974.[13]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke shem laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hes hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete.

    Sie[edit source]

    sie, hir, hir, hirs, hirself. Pronounced like either "she" and "her," or "see" and "hear." Derived from German pronouns for "she" and "they." [9] Since the early 1990s, this set has been widely used on the Internet for gender-neutral language when speaking of no specific person, for nonbinary gender characters, and by nonbinary gender people themselves. Use in fiction: Elizabeth Bear used these pronouns in a fantasy novel, Dust.[25]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke sie laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug hir.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow hirs.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds hirself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Splat[edit source]

    See *E.

    Tey[edit source]

    tey, tem, ter, ters, temself. A set of gender-neutral pronouns, proposed by feminists Casey Miller and Kate Swift in the 1971 December issue of Ms in earnest as a strategy to avoid "pronoun abuse" (meaning the inappropriate use of male pronouns when it would make more sense to include women as well), as one of many strategies to reduce sexist language. Later, they advocated instead for more widespread use of "he or she" for that purpose.[26]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke tey laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug tem.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, ter hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow ters.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds temself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    The[edit source]

    See þe or 3e.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    V[edit source]

    v, v, v's, v's, ?. In 2011, trans writer, singer, and artist Mx Justin Vivian Bond created this set of pronouns for people to use in reference to Bond. Bond created v's own set of pronouns, because v wasn't satisfied with any other gender-neutral pronouns that v had heard of. Bond wrote, "So what I’ve come up with is 'v'. Since my name is Justin Vivian Bond and since Vivian begins with a V and visually a V is two even sides which meet in the middle I would like v to be my pronoun."[27]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke v laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug 'v.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, v's hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow v's.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Xie[edit source]

    xie, ?, hir, hirs, ?. Sarka-Jonae Miller made a Change.org petition asking for Dictionary.com to include these as gender-neutral pronouns, saying these are "widely used by LGBT community members and others who wish to refer to individuals as a person instead of as a gender." The petition didn't give all the forms of these pronouns.[28] Presumably these are a spelling variant of "xe, hir" or "ze, hir" pronouns.

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke xie laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, hir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow xirs.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Entered only once in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Zey[edit source]

    zey/zem/zeir is a pronoun set following the pattern of they/them/theirs, but with the letter Z in place of TH.[29][30]

    Use for real nonbinary people:

    • Writer and advocate Chris Paige uses zey/zem/zeir in addition to they/them/their. The "zey" pronoun set was suggested by zeir daughter to avoid singular/plural confusion.[31]

    Zhe[edit source]

    zhe, zhim, zher, zhers, zhimself or zherself. This pronoun set was proposed in November 2000 (or possibly earlier) by economist Fred E. Foldvary. Dr. Foldvary wrote:[32]

    « The English language needs new pronouns to refer to people in a gender-neutral way. I offer the words zhe, zher, and zhim, where the "zh" is pronounced as in the second "g" of garage or the "z" in azure. "Zhe" means either he or she for the subject of a sentence. "Zher" is the possessive "him" or "her." "Zhim" is the accusative or object of a sentence, meaning either "him" or "her."

    For example: "Zhe was walking zher dog down the street and then gave zhim a treat." The pronoun "one" would not do here: "One was walking one's dog down the street and then gave one a treat" does not work. The use of the plural would make it sound like more than one person and more than one dog. For gender-neutral pronouns, new words are needed, and zhe, zher, zhim fits the need.

    		»

    Dr. Foldvary did not specify a reflexive form of the pronoun, but various online pronoun lists give the reflexive as "zhimself" or "zherself".[33][34]

    Use in fiction:

    • Zhe/zher pronouns were sometimes used for space pirate Eleodie Maracavanya in the Star Wars: Aftermath novels. Eleodie is the first canonly nonbinary character in the Star Wars universe.[35][36]
    • In season 11, episode 15 of the TV show Supernatural, a character says "Well it's kinda every demon for him/her/zhimself."[37]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke zhe laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug zhim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, zher hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow zhers.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds zhimself. (or zherself)

    On Pronoun Island: https://pronoun.is/zhe/zhim/zher/zhers/zhimself, https://pronoun.is/zhe/zhim/zher/zhers/zherself

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Ze[edit source]

    ze, em, zeir, zeirs, zeirself. Singer songwriter Jennifer Moore (memevector) invented these "memevector pronouns" in 2002. They are meant to sound similar to how other pronouns are pronounced in casual conversation. They are meant to be gender-free pronouns.[38][39]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ze laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug em.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, zeir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow zeirs.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds zeirself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    -

    ze, mer, mzer, zers, zemself. Created earlier than 1997. Proposed by Richard E. Creel, a professor teaching philosophy of religion courses, to refer a person of any gender, and specifically to God. This was meant to help scholars think of God as neither male nor female. Creel said the M in "mer" comes from that in "him."[40].

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ze laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug mer.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, mzer hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow zers.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds zemself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    -

    ze, zim, zees, zees, zeeself. Created in 1972 by Steven Polgar of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, explaining that it is based on the German pronoun sie. This was printed in the Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association.[41][5]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ze laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug zim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, zees hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow zees.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds zeeself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Þe[edit source]

    þe, þim, þir, þirs, ?. A non-standard set of gender-neutral pronouns created by John Newmeyer, Ph.D, of San Francisco, and printed in The People's Almanac #2 (1978). Newmeyer also created a proper noun for a person whose gender isn't specified, as a counterpart to the nouns "man" and "woman:" þane, or "thane."[5] These use the Old English letter þ, called "thorn," which represents an unvoiced "th" sound, as in the English word "thin." "Thane" is derived from an English word for a specific kind of land-owner, who historically would have been only male.

    In fiction: In Melissa Scott's science fiction novel Shadow Man (1995), this is one of the pronouns used for a specific intersex sex/gender.[42]

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke þe laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug þim.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, þir hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow þirs.
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Ȝe[edit source]

    3e, 3im, 3er, 3ers, 3imself. In Melissa Scott's science fiction novel Shadow Man (1995), intersex conditions have become so common that society categorizes people into five sexes (and five corresponding genders), each with their own set of pronouns.[43] Scott says the novel's concept is inspired by feminist Anne Fausto-Sterling's plea for recognition of the existence of intersexuality, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough" (1993).[44] In Scott's novel, the people use 3e pronouns for those of the "herm" gender. Although the first consonant looks similar to a 3, and may be printed as such, it is a letter from Middle English called "yogh," and Scott meant it to be pronounced like a Z.[45] Compare similar "ze, zim" pronouns.

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke 3e laughs.
    • Accusative: When I greet a friend I hug 3im.
    • Pronominal possessive: When someone does not get a haircut, 3er hair grows long.
    • Predicative possessive: If I need a phone, my friend lets me borrow 3ers.
    • Reflexive: Each child feeds 3imself.

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    Ðe[edit source]

    ðe, ?, ?, ?, ?. In Melissa Scott's science fiction novel Shadow Man (1995), this is one of the pronouns used for a specific intersex sex which, in that culture, has its own corresponding gender.[46][47] This pronoun uses an Old English letter named "eth," pronounced like the "th." Compare similar þe pronouns.

    Forms:

    • Nominative: When I tell someone a joke ðe laughs.
    • Accusative: ?
    • Pronominal possessive: ?
    • Predicative possessive: ?
    • Reflexive: ?

    Why this was moved to the talk page: Incomplete. Not entered in the Nonbinary Stats survey in 2016.[8]

    References[edit source]

    1. ↑ Klaus Beck, Computervermittelte Kommunikation im Internet. p. 157.
    2. ↑ Laura Borràs Castanyer, ed. Textualidades electrónicas: Nuevos escenarios para la literatura. p. 158.
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20070310125817/http://aetherlumina.com/gnp/references.html
    4. ↑ Suzanne Romaine, Communicating Gender. p. 343.
    5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 Dennis Baron, "The Epicene Pronouns: A chronology of the word that failed." http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/epicene.htm Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "d baron epicene" defined multiple times with different content
    6. ↑ Ask A Nonbinary's Credits page, captured March 2016.
    7. ↑ http://jackalwedding.tumblr.com/about+taz
    8. ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 8.25 8.26 8.27 8.28 8.29 8.30 8.31 8.32 8.33 NB/GQ Survey 2016 - the worldwide results, March 2016.
    9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "GNP FAQ", archive Feb 29 2012
    10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070310125817/http://aetherlumina.com/gnp/references.html
    11. ↑ Casey Miller and Kate Swift, Words and Women. Pages 129-130.
    12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Census2018
    13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named aetherlumina listing 2
    14. ↑ THE LAW: For the Record; E Has a Modest Proposal on Ungendered Personal Pronouns. (1989, August 25). New York Times. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/apps/doc/A175745500/OVIC?u=txshracd2487&sid=OVIC&xid=0ae5e2ed
    15. ↑ https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fa.sf-lovers/HTiZ7_xKlHI/vEG69AjYi7kJ
    16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Kip Manley, "Sexing the pronoun."
    17. ↑ Gombosi, Steve (11 November 1991). "rec.martial-arts".
    18. ↑ Koehler, Tobias (14 August 1997). "alt.fan.furry". There is hy/hys/hym (he-fluff), shy/hyr/hyr (she-fluff), han/per/per, yt/yts/yt, sie/hir/hir .... use what you like :) Of course you can just use `it' if you like to be genderneutral.
    19. ↑ All our worlds: Diverse fantastic fiction. http://doublediamond.net/aow
    20. ↑ Evelyn Nieves, "'Under God' iconoclast looks to next targets." The New York Times. July 1, 2002. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/01/national/01PLED.html
    21. ↑ Dog Friendly, "Origin of 'hir' - gender neutral pronoun? " February 7, 2007. Snopes forum. http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=3032
    22. ↑ "Organized by pronoun." Gender neutral pronoun blog. https://genderneutralpronoun.wordpress.com/links/organized-by-pronoun/
    23. ↑ Kip Manley, "Kelly J. Cooper knows the score." http://longstoryshortpier.com/2003/03/02/kelly_j_cooper_knows_the_score (see second paragraph)
    24. ↑ Phelps, Katherine (May 1998). "Gender Free Pronouns". Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
    25. ↑ All our worlds: Diverse fantastic fiction. http://doublediamond.net/aow
    26. ↑ Elizabeth Isele, "Casey Miller and Kate Swift: Women Who Dared To Disturb the Lexicon." Women in Literature and Life Assembly, Vol. 3, Fall 1994. [1]
    27. ↑ Justin Vivian Bond, "Bio." http://justinbond.com/?page_id=323
    28. ↑ Sarka-Jonae Miller, "Show respect to all people by adding gender neutral pronouns to dictionaries." https://www.change.org/p/dictionary-com-show-respect-to-all-people-by-adding-gender-neutral-pronouns-to-dictionaries
    29. ↑ dolphinnetwork (December 27, 2019). "Comment on "New employee set up for getting his paystub emailed"". I personally think it's time for English to have a singular non-gendered pronoun, and suggest contracts and manuals use "Zey/Zem/Zeir" (Zey will need to sign up to receive paystubs zeirself, but if no email was sent to zem automatically the payroll accountant can send it to zem.)
    30. ↑ Reddit profile of u/Earl_The_Red showing use of zey/zem/zeir pronouns
    31. ↑ Hooper, Liam; Toscano, Peterson (September 28, 2019). "Enuchs and Jesus and Pronouns, Oh My! Mx Chris Paige -- Matthew 19". The Bible Bash Podcast. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
    32. ↑ Foldvary, Fred E. "Zhe, zher, zhim". The Progress Report. Archived from the original on 21 November 2000.
    33. ↑ "Pronouns". Western Oregon University Safe Zone.
    34. ↑ Smith, Margaret (6 February 2019). "LGBTQIA Patients: Initiating a Positive Healthcare Experience with Open Lines of Communication". nursingcenter.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
    35. ↑ @ChuckWendig (14 June 2018). "That would be the gender-neutral / non-binary pronoun used by human space pirate Eleodie Maracavanya" – via Twitter.
    36. ↑ "Eleodie Maracavanya". Wookieepedia. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
    37. ↑ "Queer and Gender Diverse Characters". supernaturalwiki.com. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
    38. ↑ "Pronouns." Footnotes. 2003. Retrieved 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20090414130833/http://footnotes.jinkies.org.uk/pronouns.html
    39. ↑ Jennifer Moore (memevector), "Pronouns." February 20, 2002. Livejournal. Blog post. http://memevector.livejournal.com/1089.html
    40. ↑ In Richard E. Creel, “Ze, zer, mer,” APA Newsletters 97: 1 (Fall 1997)
    41. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120229202924/http:/aetherlumina.com/gnp/listing.html]
    42. ↑ Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, eds. Edging Into The Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation. p. 110.
    43. ↑ Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Post-binary gender in SF: Shadow Man by Melissa Scott." April 8, 2014. Tor. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/04/post-binary-gender-in-sf-shadow-man-by-melissa-scott
    44. ↑ Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, eds. Edging Into The Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation. p. 109.
    45. ↑ Patricia Melzer, Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought. University of Texas, 2010. Unpaged.
    46. ↑ Veronica Hollinger and Joan Gordon, eds. Edging Into The Future: Science Fiction and Contemporary Cultural Transformation. p. 110.
    47. ↑ Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Post-Binary Gender in SF: ExcitoTech and Non-Binary Pronouns." June 3, 2014. Tor. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/06/post-binary-gender-in-sf-excitotech-and-non-binary-pronouns

    case forms[edit source]

    Could detail please be provided on the case forms of all of these words? A chart with both possesives, the subject and object, as well as the reflexive forms woud be very nice.

    Thanks for the feedback! Most (if not all) pronouns have example sentences with the pronoun used in all cases (and highlighted in Italics). If you want the form only, without examples, feel free to hop on the NBDb (Nonbinary Database) and look up any pronoun, it contains short data on many of them, including cases.--Ondo (talk) 20:56, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

    potential "see also" links[edit source]

    https://www.hrc.org/resources/understanding-neopronouns - good initial resource for people

    https://homosaurus.org/v2/neopronouns - though we have the nbdb? pretty sure we've talked to this site about collabs toy Amazingakita (talk) 22:43, 7 August 2022 (UTC)

    Retrieved from "https://nonbinary.wiki/index.php?title=Talk:English_neutral_pronouns&oldid=15484"