Using He or She - Are you confused?

A cryptic text message from my son read "Look up non-binary pronouns."  And I did.  What an intriguing topic.  The linguistic label for this class of words is a bit prissy, but the concept deals with much discussed topics in today's society.

First, in case you (understandably) slept through explanations of parts of speech in Freshman English, a simplified definition of a pronoun is a word that can be used in place of a noun.

The English pronouns "he" and "she," which are classified as binary pronouns. are often targets of current controversies.  Here's the issue.     

To refer to a third person with a pronoun, traditional English grammar forces us to decide if that person is male (he) or female (she).  This is not true of all world languages.   The Hawaiian language, for example, has one word, "ia," often written as "o ia,"  which can be translated as "he," she," or "it."

In today's American society, there are increasing numbers of people who self-identify as transgender.

Many attempts have been made recently to introduce new gender-neutral or non-binary pronouns.

One recommendation is to use what are called "splat pronouns," such as "*e" for either "he" or "she." The asterisk indicates ambiguity between male and female. Another formulation of less specific pronouns, "spivak pronouns," came into being in an online chat room where participants did not want to disclose their genders. These pronouns, such as "E" ("he, "she," "it), are attributed to Michael Spivak.

Still other trans-gender individuals use the pronoun "they" in a singular sense. "They,"of course, is gender-free.

You may wonder why American language has not caught up with the social acceptance of varying types of gender.  The answer may be because pronouns are classified as function words, along with other words such as conjunctions, prepositions, and articles.   These words contrast with content words, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  (Stick with me here.) 

New content words come into our language at a dizzying speed.  Do you know the meaning of "crowdfund," "e-cigarette," or "jeggings"?  These new content words enter our language easily.

Linguists tell us that pronouns, being function words, belong to a closed class of words that seldom admits new members. When is the last time you learned of a new pronoun? I can remember an attempt by the Feminist Movement of the 1960's and 70's to introduce "s/he" as a neutral pronoun, but I don't believe the new pronoun caught on in widespread use.  So the numerous suggestions now being offered for non-binary pronouns may not enter the mainstream quickly. 

Until English grammar books catch up with societal mores, wearing name tags has been suggested as a way of training others to use new forms of address.

Now, who said pronouns were a dull, pedantic topic?  

Don't let the term 'Linguistics' turn you off!

I can't tell you the number of strange looks and remarks I have gotten from acquaintances when I tell them I am interested in and teach courses in Linguistics.  "What's that?"  they ask.   My usual answer, "It's the science of language,"  doesn't create much enthusiasm (much to my dismay!)

Sometimes I try to become more socially acceptable by just saying I am interested in languages. Languages are a part of the definition of Linguistics, but it is only a small piece of the big Linguistics puzzle.  Let's take a closer look at some of those (fascinating!) puzzle pieces.

Most of us acquire our native language between approximately the ages of 18 months and four or five years. We probably don't remember how we acquired language from our surroundings, just like we don't remember how we learned to crawl or walk.  How young children acquire language is one of the big mysteries that linguists try to explain.  Are babies born with a blueprint of sorts in their brains that make language acquisition possible in a few short years?  Do babies need to hear perfect language to learn to speak? Can adults affect the way children acquire language? Interested? Read up on First or Child Language Acquisition, and you'll also learn about Chomsky's Theory of Universal Grammar.  

Once a language is acquired, linguists have other problems to contend with such as:  How do new

words come into a language?  Do they just enter a language willy-nilly, or is there a predictable pattern?   Is is okay to bring new words into a language ?   How is it that we can guess what a made-up word like 'conker' might mean? (Someone who 'conks', right?)  Interested in these topics? Study up on Morphology, how words are created in our brains.

"The angry woman hit the man with the umbrella."  Who had the umbrella?  The angry woman or the man?  Can you make your brain switch back and forth between those two possibilities?  How is that possible?  A  solution could come from the Linguistics field of Syntax, the study of how phrases and sentences are put together in the brain.

If your brain combines 'with the umbrella'" with the angry woman, then you can picture her brandishing the umbrella like a weapon.  If, on the other hand, your brain combines 'with the umbrella' with the man, a different picture emerges.  An innocent man holding an umbrella may be getting punched by the fist of the angry woman.  And of course, syntacticians would love to draw you one of those dreaded tree diagrams to prove their point, but you can always politely decline if graphics aren't your thing!

Another important piece of the Linguistics puzzle is the sound systems of languages.  Why are you probably born with the ability to understand all sounds from all languages, but later on in life, when you are learning Spanish, you have trouble rolling that 'rr'?  Why are sounds easy to understand separately and often more difficult when they are combined in a word with other sounds?  Would using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) aid in learning sounds of other languages?  The Linguistics fields of Phonetics and Phonology address these questions.

Partial IPA chart

Whew!   A student once told me that studying Linguistics made her brain tired!  I hope this brief discussion of the field of Linguistics has brought you inspiration, not exhaustion.  Thanks for reading!