Appendix:List of protologisms by topic/third person singular gender neutral pronouns

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Several third-person singular gender-neutral pronouns have been proposed. This is a list of those that have been proposed, whether they are attested in use or not. Those which are attested are repeated in an Appendix.

Nominative (subject) Accusative (object) Possessive adjective Possessive pronoun Reflexive
Elverson[1] ey laughed I kissed em eir head hurts that is eirs ey feeds emself
Spivak (original)[2] e laughed I kissed em eir head hurts that is eirs e feeds emself
Spivak variants e / ey laughed I kissed em / eir eir head hurts that is eirs e / ey feeds emself / eirself
sie and hir[3] sie laughed I kissed hir hir head hurts that is hirs sie feeds hirself
s/he and hir[4] s/he laughed I kissed hir hir head hurts that is hirs s/he feeds hirself
ze and hir[5] ze laughed I kissed hir hir head hurts that is hirs ze feeds hirself
xe[6] xe laughed I kissed xem xyr head hurts that is xyrs xe feeds xemself/xyrself
ve[7] ve laughed I kissed ver vis head hurts that is vis ve feeds verself
ze and mer[8] ze laughed I kissed mer zer head hurts that is zers ze feeds zemself
zie zie laughed I kissed zir zir head hurts that is zirs zie feeds zirself
e, em, es[9] e laughed I kissed em es head hurts
e, em, e's[10] e laughed I kissed em e's head hurts that is e's e feeds emself
e and het e laughed I kissed het het head hurts that is hets e feeds hetself
thon[11][12][13] thon laughed I kissed thon thons head hurts that is thon's thon feeds thonself
Humanist[14][15] hu laughed I kissed hum hus head hurts that is hus hu feeds huself
hesh hesh laughed I kissed hesh hesh's head hurts that is hesh's hesh feeds heshself
ne ne laughed I kissed nim nis head hurts that is nis nis feeds nimself
hiser
en en laughed I kissed en ens head hurts that is ens en feeds enself
hi hi laughed I kissed hem hes head hurts that is hes hi feeds hemself
le le laughed I kissed lim lis head hurts that is lis le feeds limself
himer himer laughed I kissed himer himer's head hurts that is himers himer feeds himerself
ir ir laughed I kissed iro irs head hurts that is irs ir feeds irself
se se laughed I kissed sim sis head hurts that is sis se feeds simself
hse hse laughed I kissed hse hse's head hurts that is hse's hse feeds hseself
co co laughed I kissed co cos head hurts that is co's co feeds coself
ve ve laughed I kissed ver vis head hurts that is vis ve feeds verself
tey, tem, ter[16] tey laughed I kissed tem ter head hurts that is ters
tey tey laughed I kissed tem term head hurts that is terms term feeds termself
shkle shkle laughed I kissed shkler/shklim shklers head hurts that is shklers term feeds shklimself
ze ze laughed I kissed zim zees head hurts that is zees ze feeds zeeself
per[17] per laughed I kissed per pers head hurts that is pers per feeds perself
na na laughed I kissed nan nas head hurts that is nas na feeds naself
en en laughed I kissed ar es head hurts that is es en feeds arself
rim rim laughed I kissed run ris head hurts that is ris rim feeds rimself.
ae ae laughed I kissed ae ae's head hurts that is ae's ae feeds aeself
ay ay laughed I kissed ay ay's head hurts that is ay's ay feeds ayself
et et laughed I kissed et ets head hurts that is ets et feeds etself
heshe heshe laughed I kissed hen hes head hurts that is hes heshe feeds hemself
hann hann laughed I kissed hann hanns head hurts that is hanns hann feeds hannself
herm herm laughed I kissed herm herm's head hurts that is herm's herm feeds hermself
phe phe laughed I kissed phe phe's head hurts that is phe's phe feeds phe's self

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Transgender" pronouns coined by Christine M. Elverson of Skokie, Illinois, to win a contest in 1975. (Black, Judie, "Ey has a word for it", 1975-08-23.). Promoted as preferable to other major contenders (sie, zie and singular "they") by John Williams's Gender-neutral Pronoun FAQ (2004).
  2. ^ Popularized by LambdaMOO in 1991, based on the use of E, Ey, and Eir in The Joy of TeX by Michael Spivak (1983).
  3. ^ First recorded use on usenet: 1981-05-26, Chip Hitchcock, “receptors”, fa.sf-lovers[1], retrieved on 2007-01-01,
  4. ^ As used in science fiction like Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier book series.
  5. ^ Example:
    1998, Kate Bornstein, My Gender Workbook: how to become a real man, a real woman, the real you, or something else entirely[2], Psychology Press, LCC HQ1075.B69 1998, ISBN 9780415916738, LCCN 98134184:
  6. ^ A discussion about theory of Mind: a paper from 2000 that uses and defines these pronouns
  7. ^ Proposed by New Zealand writer Keri Hulme some time in the 1980s. Also used by writer Greg Egan for non-gendered artificial intelligences and "asex" humans.
    1998 July 1, Greg Egan, Diaspora[3], Gollancz, ISBN 0-75280-925-3:
    1995, Greg Egan, Distress, ISBN 1-85799-484-1:
  8. ^ Creel, Richard (1997), "Ze, Zer, Mer" (in English), APA Newsletters. The American Philosophical Association. URL accessed on 2006-05-15.
  9. ^ 1890 January, James Rogers, “That Impersonal Pronoun”, The Writer, volume 4, number 1, pages 12-13: 
  10. ^ 1989 August 25, Stone, Victor J., “E Has a Modest Proposal on Ungendered Personal Pronouns”, New York Times:
  11. ^ proposed in 1884 by American lawyer Charles Converse. Reference: "Epicene", The Mavens' Word of the Day. Random House: 1998-08-12. URL accessed on 2006-12-20.
  12. ^ 1884 July 23, C. C. Converse, “A New Pronoun”, The Critic and Good Literature, number 31, page 55: 
  13. ^ 1889 November, C. Crozat Converse, “That Desired Impersonal Pronoun”, The Writer, volume 3, number 2, pages 247-248: 
  14. ^ Used in several college humanities texts published by Bandanna Books. Originated by editor Sasha Newborn in 1982.
  15. ^ 1998 July 23, Newborn, Sasha, “Humanist pronouns”, Usenet:
  16. ^ 1971 December, “Desexing the Language”, New York (Ms.), page 103: , cited in 1994, Elizabeth Isele, “Casey Miller and Kate Swift: Women who dared to disturb the lexicon”, WILLA, volume 3, pages 8-10: 
  17. ^ MediaMOO's "person" gender, derived from Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time (1979), in which people of 2137 use "per" as their sole third-person pronoun.
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