Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
The Third Wednesday of October, since 2018, is International Pronouns Day ! However, you might be wondering: Why an International Pronouns Day? Why do pronouns suddenly matter so much?
This is a day of celebration and action, designed to
raise awareness, to educate, to recognize, and to include all individuals,
particularly transgender, non-binary or fluid gender, who do not identify with binary (male/female)
modes of expression, whether the absence of identification arises in the use of
English pronouns, or the more system-wide features of Latin languages. Indeed, in English, it may even be discriminatory to address an
individual by a pronoun, with which they do not identify, or in ways that deny their stated identity and preferences
in terms of address.
In English, the matter of ‘he’ or ‘she’ failing to represent the way an individual
might perceive themself, is now commonly resolved using the pronoun ‘they’
(and associated grammatical requirements), already used as singular
references in many instances. For example, in the last sentence of the
preceding paragraph: “Indeed, in English,
it may even be discriminatory to address an individual by a pronoun, with which
they do not identify, or in ways that deny their stated identity,
and preferences in terms of address.” Both “they” and “their” refer to “an
individual”, even if the verb remains in the plural. Thus, for individuals who
do not relate to the use of “he” or “she” (his or her) in English, the pronoun
“they” is one easy and commonplace preference. A stated pronoun preference, according to
Mypronouns.org, among many additional options in English language use, such as
Ze/Hir (e.g.; Ze is transgender.
Hir pronouns are Ze/Hir), No pronouns/use my name (e.g.; Sterling is transgender, preferring No pronouns/Use My name), per/pers, ey/em,
xe/xem, plus more (cited at Mypronouns.org). Thus, you will
see more than one sign-off in your mail messages, and otherwise, where
individuals will be kind enough to specify their preferences in terms of address,
saving you the embarrassment of a faux
pas, or of an unintended offense.
Fair enough, providing
that everyone subscribes (this is the only hard part). The matter of binary
pronouns in English is fairly easily resolved, using existing unmarked plural
pronouns in the singular, or completely new ungendered, unmarked terms. But what happens when the whole
language (e.g.; French) is grammatically inflected in a binary mode. What
happens when not only pronouns are binary, but also nouns adjectives, articles and
verb endings? How do you handle the feminine or masculine (plural and singular)
morphology of adjectives, such as «big »
(grand(s)/grande(s)) or « small » (petit(s)/petite(s))? Alternatively, (according to Martel, 2019) how do you address the petitioner (demandeur/demanderesse), and defendant
(défendeur/défenderesse) in a trial, when the noun referencing them, marked for
the feminine or masculine, is referring to a non-binary, fluid-gender, or
transgender individual, referencing themself as « they/them/their »
in English. In other words, how do you handle the more extensive, system-wide,
grammatical binarism, in regards to individuals
who do not identify themselves in the
feminine or masculine, and most importantly, who are willing to fight for linguistic
expression correlated to their identities? That is the issue.
For French, a history of gender-inclusiveness already
exists. Many generations of feminists have grappled for decades with the
inclusion of feminine forms in a system that was heavily weighted in the
masculine. Masculine forms that are actually even perceived as "the generic or unmarked
form" (per the French Academy, Oct 10, 2014). Thus, after many years of combat,
manuals of style now designate gender-inclusive forms of writing “rédaction épicène”,
favoring the use of both feminine and
masculine references (e.g. le ou la
patient(e), l’employé(e)), or the use of neutral terminology, and the
plural (e.g.; le personnel, les malades). However, despite the setting of new
standards, the debate is still active. For example, is a female doctor,
in France, addressed, in writing, (since the difference is unvoiced)
with the feminine form Docteure, or with the age-old masculine
form Docteur? A question that begs a gentle answer, considering that some parties, even generation Z,
are bound to be offended, one way or another. Likewise, the debate is unsettled
for the age-old masculine term Professeur (professor), and its newer feminine
form Professeure. A feminine form that the French Academy firmly rejected, on October10, 2014, considering such feminine form a “barbarism", whereas the same form was finally accepted by the Academy, on Feb. 28, 2019, on the grounds
that such a feminine form as Professeure was already common usage.
Thus, it could
be too arduous to ask French language use to accommodate yet another change. A
change inserted within an entrenched linguistic system, emerging into more female gender-inclusiveness. A change, this time inclusive of non-binary, transgender
and fluid gender identities, beyond the de facto insufficiency of female-inclusion for referencing such multiplicities of identity. However, despite
such perceived inadequacy of the former female gender inclusiveness, which in fact created a more
equalitarian binary system, the difficulty of such sweeping changes
(post-female gender-inclusiveness), is hardly the case. The bid for more gender-variety inclusion is no longer so far out, considering just how much trailblazing
has already occurred, under the political and legal pressures, exerted by older
generations of feminists, and new generations of LGBT groups, asserting, and securing, their (human) rights (to
self-expression, in this particular case).
While solutions have yet to promote the requested, radical
and system-wide changes in the binary French grammatical system, several new
forms are emerging, that precisely rely on previous female gender-inclusive standards.
Solutions discussed, for example at the Quebec French Language Office, which does not
so far support overhauling the complete binary grammatical system, in
alignment with the French Academy, allegedly bent on capturing usage, rather
than imposing new norms (French Adademy, 2014, 2019).
The first solution discussed consists in combining
masculine and feminine nouns, pronouns and adjectives, into new words. For
example, combining the pronouns il (masculine 'he' in English) and elle (feminine 'she' in English), into ille or iel, or even phoneticized into yel. Thereby creating a much used bi-gendered singular pronoun option in French
language use. Similarly, the LGBT in-group combination of nouns, such as frère (brother) and soeur
(sister), into freure or froeur, has been cited, with
corresponding combinations even for adjectives. In-group adjective combinations that join, for example, such an adjective as valeureux
(masculine form of 'valued' in English) and valeureuse
(feminine form of 'valued' in English) into the new adjective valeureuxe (a bigendered adjective). WikiTrans cites many more bi-gendered examples in French, such as acteurice, corresponding to the
combination of the masculine acteur
and the feminine actrice ('actor' and 'actress' in English, yielding 'actoress', a new bi-gendered word.)
The second solution discussed by Martel (2019) consists in non-gendered forms, introducing completely
new pronouns and morphemes to create non-binary, transgendered, or fluid
gendered terms, perceived as more adequately correlated with the expression of multiple,
converging and fluid gender identities. For example, the use of the new pronouns ul or ol, respectively for il
or elle in French ('he' or 'she' in English),
or the use of the possessive adjective mo
for mon or ma ('my' in English). Likewise for the inflection of verbs,
non-gendered, in-group morphology might consist in the use of the single letter suffix T or z to inflect a verb (e.g.; ul est
aimeT). And so forth, since
endless such options of language use might be generated as possibilities of non-binary self-expression or address, in both oral and written forms, with a ripple effect on the complete linguistic system.
American Dialect Society (ADS) www.americandialect.org
International Pronouns Day https://pronounsday.org/
Lipson, M. (Sept. 1, 2021). ‘How Language Classes Are Moving Past the Gender Binary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/crosswords/gender-language-nonbinary.html
Martel, S. (August 12, 2019). Il, elle, iel ou ille? Quel langage neutre utiliser en français? | Gender neutral language in French, does it exist? Rubin Thomlinson LLP for Lexology
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7412a455-adb2-4054-bb30-d0c655878d28
Staff (Oct 15, 2021). Journée internationale des pronoms : utiliser un langage inclusif en milieu de travail. Ministère de la Défense – Gouvernement du Canada.
https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/feuille-derable/defense/2021/10/journee-internationale-pronoms-utiliser-langage-inclusif.html
Staff (Feb. 28, 2019) La féminisation des noms de métiers et de fonctions (Rapport, version pdf) Académie Française.
https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/annexes/feminisation
Staff (Feb. 28, 2019). Féminisation des noms des métiers. Rapport du 28 février 2019. Académie Française
https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/QDL038
Staff (Oct. 10, 2014). La féminisation des noms de métiers, fonctions, grades ou titres - Mise au point de l’Académie française. Académie Française
https://www.academie-francaise.fr/actualites/la-feminisation-des-noms-de-metiers-fonctions-grades-ou-titres-mise-au-point-de-lacademie
https://tinyurl.com/mne88kze
Staff (2019). Désigner les personnes non binaires. Banque du dépannage linguistique. Office québéquois de la langue française.
Staff (2018). Rédaction épicène, formulation neutre, redaction non-binaire et inclusive. Banque du dépannage linguistique. Office québéquois de la langue française.
http://bdl.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/bdl/gabarit_bdl.asp?id=5421
WIKITrans – Comment parler d’une personne non-binaire ?
https://wikitrans.co/2019/12/25/comment-parler-dune-personne-non-binaire/
