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Re: Inclusive language redux
Cal Eastman (shiva@FREENET.SCRI.FSU.EDU)
Tue, 15 Nov 1994 17:23:08 -0500
except your solution limits us to saying everything in the generalized
plural rather than a specific singular...
Boom shiva
mahalinga nataraj
:)
(puffiness 4evah)
On Tue, 15 Nov 1994, mike salovesh wrote:
> I believe in using language that doesn't exclude. (That's not quite
> the same thing as inclusive language--but that's not my debate at the
> moment.)
>
> Inventing new pronouns bothers me. Why do it, when there are
> perfectly good ones around already? Him/her, or s/he, aren't what
> we need either. As a writer, I suggest that whenever my sentence
> structure seems to demand new pronouns or either/or slashes I've
> written a bad sentence.
>
> Just recast the sentence to use THEY, THEM, THEIR and appropriate
> plural forms of verbs. "Students are expected to bring their
> books to class" instead of "Each student is expected to bring
> his/her book to class". Alternatively, recast the whole thing in
> the second person: "You are expected to bring your book to class".
>
> Somebody long ago, in Anthro Newsletter, pointed to the reductio ad
> absurdum of either/or pronoun combinations: sooner or later they
> will lead us to saying "she/it" about the whole business.
>
> mike salovesh <SALOVESH@NIU.EDU>
>
> =============== Original message follows ===========================
>
> Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 22:31:29 +0500
> From: Heather Young-Leslie <youngl@FHS.CSU.MCMASTER.CA>
> Subject: Re: Inclusive Language
> To: Multiple recipients of list ANTHRO-L
>
> I tried to use s/he [pronounced shee-hee] and per [pronounced purr],
> in place of him/her and pers for his/hers, short for 'person'.
> I'd never heard or seen anyone using hir [I vote for pronouncing it heer].
> No one seems to be happy using any alternatives to him/her
> and their possesives. Is this something linguists can explain?
> Also, is there an Esperanza word that could be used instead of
> inventing another personal pronoun?
> Heather Young-Leslie
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
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