If only there were a singular pronoun in English that is gender neutral. The plurals are so non-specific and question begging. I’m sure this problem causes much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I’m glad *IT* is THEIR problem and not (mine/ours).
What a Maroon
“It” isn’t gender-neutral. English has a three-way distinction in grammatical gender in its third-person singular pronouns, with a distinction between human(ish*) and non-human(ish), and within the human(ish) category a sex-based distinction between male and female. In linguistic terms, all that is grammatical gender. Interestingly, there are some contexts where most speakers would find “it” appropriate to refer to humans (e.g., “It’s a girl!”); I suspect, though, that that’s related to “dummy” subjects like the “it” in “It’s raining”, since in most contexts English requires an explicit subject (contrast with Spanish “Es niña” and “Llueve”).
/pedant
*”Ish” because we often use “he/she” for animals if we know their sex, or even if we don’t (when I was growing up, all dogs were “he”; all cats were “she”). And of course there are cases where we use “he/she” for inanimate objects.
twiliter
Well ‘It’s a girl’ or ‘It’s a boy’ are not gender neutral, but ‘It’s a baby’ isn’t very specific, it would have to be one or the other. I’m not sure the ‘it’ in that context isn’t gender neutral also, but predicated on the entire sentence. Or are you just messing with (we/us)?
What a Maroon
“It” is sex-neutral, not gender neutral. Or more accurately, it’s neuter gender (which is a grammatical gender).
And I’m just being pedantic.
twiliter
Oh yes, the sex/gender dichotomy, confusing enough in the singular, paradoxical in the plural.
Sackbut
The Humanist newsletter has a comics page that usually has J and M and another comic. This one does not appear. Wonder why. (Not really.)
Comments
6 responses to “Moses on the line”
If only there were a singular pronoun in English that is gender neutral. The plurals are so non-specific and question begging. I’m sure this problem causes much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I’m glad *IT* is THEIR problem and not (mine/ours).
“It” isn’t gender-neutral. English has a three-way distinction in grammatical gender in its third-person singular pronouns, with a distinction between human(ish*) and non-human(ish), and within the human(ish) category a sex-based distinction between male and female. In linguistic terms, all that is grammatical gender. Interestingly, there are some contexts where most speakers would find “it” appropriate to refer to humans (e.g., “It’s a girl!”); I suspect, though, that that’s related to “dummy” subjects like the “it” in “It’s raining”, since in most contexts English requires an explicit subject (contrast with Spanish “Es niña” and “Llueve”).
/pedant
*”Ish” because we often use “he/she” for animals if we know their sex, or even if we don’t (when I was growing up, all dogs were “he”; all cats were “she”). And of course there are cases where we use “he/she” for inanimate objects.
Well ‘It’s a girl’ or ‘It’s a boy’ are not gender neutral, but ‘It’s a baby’ isn’t very specific, it would have to be one or the other. I’m not sure the ‘it’ in that context isn’t gender neutral also, but predicated on the entire sentence. Or are you just messing with (we/us)?
“It” is sex-neutral, not gender neutral. Or more accurately, it’s neuter gender (which is a grammatical gender).
And I’m just being pedantic.
Oh yes, the sex/gender dichotomy, confusing enough in the singular, paradoxical in the plural.
The Humanist newsletter has a comics page that usually has J and M and another comic. This one does not appear. Wonder why. (Not really.)