Languages around the world have different constructions for gender and gender pronouns. In English, the male form of a word, like “mankind”, describes the whole group of people. Some vocabulary has evolved to be gender neutral, like mailperson, pilot and waiter.
I wanted to dive deeper and see how the construct of gender across different languages, especially with their pronouns, and how that might influence culture (or vice versa!). Here are some examples of different gender constructions in different languages.
This example has a cultural influence, as an another gender pronoun arose in 2012. Jesper Lundquist authored a children’s book titled “Kivi and the Monster Dog”. Kivi used the gender neutral pronoun, hen. Finland already used a similar gender neutral pronoun, hän. The Swedish Language Council supported the word. More people use hen and it has representation in the media. It brings about a very interesting argument. Can a new word shift attitudes about gender?
“New language, then, can become a useful tool for changing how people deal with each other. Think of it as the opposite of censorship. Instead of trying to delete ideas from culture, new words can contribute them.” Political scientist Efrén Pérez says: “I’m second-generation Mexican American. It’s a very male-centered way of life, especially for the immigrants who came here. Culture dies hard sometimes.”
While they may not relate to identity, new words develop faster than some of us can even keep up. Think “woke”, “glow up,” and “stan”. Many use different gender pronouns like ze/zir in the U.S.
Most Spanish nouns have a masculine and feminine form, like English. Male nouns end in “o” and female nouns end in “a”. (e.g. chico (boy), chica (girl). The Spanish word for “the” is also different for males and females (el vs la)
Endings of words have inclusive alternatives such as “x”, “e”, or “@”. You may see the term “Latinx”. Members of the younger generation are now changing the way they write and speaking, replacing “o” and “a” with “e”. Instead of todos/todas (all), they may say “todes”.
Germany has male, female and neutral gender pronouns. Years ago, people did not use the neutral form. Over the last few years, that has changed. In the German city of Hanover, all official communication required the use gender neutral nouns. Instead of the gendered version of a noun, they must use the noun that does not indicate any gender.
“Gender differentiation in German has the suffixes “r” or “rn” for men, and “in” or “innen” for women. Current attempts to shorten the space include the introduction of an uppercase “I” in compound nouns addressing males and females. An asterisk, known as the “gender star” includes citizens who do not consider themselves either.”
Both citizens in the U.S. and Canada recognize they/them as gender neutral pronouns to some extent. However, when applying for jobs, I only saw one application that gave an option for they/them as pronouns (and I applied for a LOT!). There are many pronouns used by people across the gender spectrum, such as ze/zir. Check out my LGBTQIA+ dictionary for more gender and sexuality terms. In England, one citizen says that they/them come across just as often as he/she.
Public spaces must use gender neutral terms when referring to passengers. They do allow for a “different” check box on forms when selecting a gender and have gender neutral bathrooms.
Mandarin has a third person pronoun tā (他).
It was not always used, but now is coming back into use. However, there is still prominent gendering and gender stereotypes in their written language.
These are just a few languages I touched on with different gender constructions. I will be making a second part to this post with more languages and information!
Come back tomorrow to learn more about cultural sensitivity as an SLP. For more cultural sensitivity tips, subscribe to my SLP Survival Newsletter!
