Pronouns

**Pronouns** are a set of nouns used to replace the repeated usage of previously stated proper nouns or noun phrases.

Traditionally, singular pronouns were mostly binary in nature; the few that existed were called *common* or *epicene pronouns,* the latter meaning 'to have characteristics of both (or neither) sexes' or 'effeminate'. These pronouns largely are considered to be ungrammatical and unacceptable in most style guidelines.

Today there exists a large amount of pronouns available for non-binary individuals, called *gender-neutral* or *neopronouns*.

## Gender-neutral pronouns

### Historical attempts

*For the historical context of these and other pronouns, see Non-binary history#Pronouns.*

In the late 19th and 20th centuries, there were many requests for the creation gender-neutral pronouns. These were often 're-invented' with the 'creator' unaware of previous existence.

### It/its/itself pronouns

**It/its/itself pronouns** typically are used for animals and inanimate objects, and it is considered offensive to use them in reference to humans, especially those that are transgender; however, sometimes infants are described with 'it' when the sex is unknown or does not matter, e.g. "Is *it* a boy or a girl?" and "The baby dropped *its* bottle." In 17th century England, "it" was used in reference to 'people who didn’t fit a gender binary' under inheritance laws.

### Singular they

**Singular they pronouns** are commonly used as standard gender-neutral pronouns in the 21st century, but were seen as early as the 14th century, and have been used by authors such as Jane Austen and William Shakespeare. However, it has been widely considered grammatically incorrect, despite being commonly used in everyday language where the person's gender is unknown, e.g. "I saw the perp run by, but *they* were covering *their* face."

 The *American Psychological Association* accepted its usage in 2010, whereas the *Washington Post* did so in 2015, and the *Chicago Manual of Style,* *Associated Press,* and *Modern Language Association* in 2017.

### Neopronouns

Neopronouns are pronouns outside of standard pronouns and singular they. There are three sub-types of neopronouns: *Spivak*, *nounself* and *nameself*.

#### Spivak pronouns

**Spivak pronouns** were named after mathematician and author Michael Spivak, after his usage of said pronouns in his textbooks and manuals, though similar pronouns existed much earlier and are included in the 'Spivak' term.

## External links

* Pronoun Island: A website that explains pronoun usage with examples.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pronoun
2. ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/pronouns/
3. ↑ https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-sexuality/gender-neutral-pronouns/
4. ↑ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epicene
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/705317
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/31097
7. ↑ Huddleston, Rodney; Geoffrey K. *A Student's Introduction to English Grammar.* Cambridge University Press. 2005.
8. ↑ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/singular-their-affront-good-writing/319329/
9. ↑ https://www.npr.org/2016/01/13/462906419/everyone-uses-singular-they-whether-they-realize-it-or-not
10. ↑ https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2015/11/the-use-of-singular-they-in-apa-style.html
11. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-post-drops-the-mike--and-the-hyphen-in-e-mail/2015/12/04/ccd6e33a-98fa-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb\_story.html?noredirect=on
12. ↑ https://www.cjr.org/language\_corner/stylebooks-single-they-ap-chicago-gender-neutral.php
13. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general\_writing/grammar/pronouns/gendered\_pronouns\_and\_singular\_they.html
14. ↑ https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1329/1329-h/1329-h.htm
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 http://mackay.bol.ucla.edu/1980%20pronoun%20problem%20ap%201980.pdf
16. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/455219
17. ↑ https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173588
18. ↑ Spivak, Michael. *The Joy of TeX (Second Edition)*. American Mathematical Society. Providence, Rhode Island. 1990.
19. ↑ Rogers, James. "That Impersonal Pronoun." Editorial. Comp. William Henry Hills. *The Writer*. Boston. Jan. 1890, 4th ed.

## Further reading

* Baron, Dennis E. 1986. *Grammar and Gender*. Yale University Press. ISBN: 0-300-03883-6.
	+ Yale University P. 0300038836030003883603000388360300038836ress