So a question for you folks:
My niece teaches Spanish in High School and they have a students who is non binary.
She's trying to get them to use the language without using the wrong pronouns for themselves. Any suggestions?
We're stumped!
I think the language itself may have to evolve - but maybe it has and we just don't know it.
And yes Reddit had the topic: [reddit.com]
2
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3 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Yes, a language that insists on gendering every noun is going to be troublesome for non-binary people. Surely the answer lies in how you would refer to a mixed group. So is a mixed group of children niñas or niños? Or can they both be used interchangeably?
Off on a bit of a tangent, but one of the things I've always liked about Portugese is that you can declare your gender in the way you express gratitude: obrigado for masculine and obrigada for feminine. But I suppose that's yet another complication for someone who wants to use gender neutral references.
NicoleCadmium
Level 7
Sep 11, 2019
1
There were some proposals, like the ones mentioned below, but not accepted by the Royal Academy of Spanish. How is this handled in English?
Mofo1953
Level 9
Sep 11, 2019
1
Singular 'they' seems to be the preferred method of dealing with this, in British English at least. Though I'm not sure whether it's correct to say "They have a bunch of bananas" or "They has a bunch of bananas." I think, under those circumstances, I'd be inclined to refer to the person by name, if I knew it.
"Ze" pronouns are another option, though this seems to have less traction. More details here: [mypronouns.org]
Mx is frequently used in place of Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms etc. for someone who doesn't wish to declare masculine or feminine in their title.
It's much easier in English, because English doesn't insist on gendering every noun.
@NicoleCadmium regardless, seems like broken english also.
@Mofo1953 "They has" definitely sounds broken, whereas "they have" works just fine. So even though it's singular 'they', I think, linguistically, we still need to treat it as a plural.
Even outside of non-binary identity, I suppose there are instances where we use singular 'they' to avoid being gender specific.
"The manager is here. They have asked me what the problem is."
There is a great article on this on the medium network:
[medium.com]
JohnSchindler
Level 7
Sep 10, 2019
1
Thank you! That might be the most comprehensive answer.
This is obviously not a decided topic yet and she's trying to do right by her students. I'll send this along.
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