Hu?
Posted on 06/24/2007 2:29:33 PM PDT by rhema
For at least 150 years, people have been trying to solve the pronoun dilemma.
That would be the dilemma that causes odd word formations out of fairness to both genders: "he or she," "him or her," or "s/he." Some avoid the gender question altogether by speaking in the plural, as in "If anyone asks, tell them what they need to know."
Some people have taken the more extreme approach of devising entirely new pronouns that specify no gender. "Ne," "hizer," "thon," "shem" and "herm" are just a few that came along and faded quickly. They're known as gender-neutral, or epicene, pronouns.
The latest such pronoun comes from DeAnn DeLuna, who teaches literature at Johns Hopkins University. Her creation, "hu," would replace he, she, him, her and his. Because it's just one word, unlike an entire set of pronouns, DeLuna says it's easier to use than other gender-neutral pronouns. And the word (pronounced "huh"), trips off the tongue easily.
Gender and pronouns have vexed language watchers for some time. At one point, the English language had no clear female pronoun, so it was a monumental shift when "she" emerged in the 12th century. In 2000, the American Dialect Society chose "she" as its Word of the Millennium.
The matter doesn't prey too heavily on most people's minds, but the debate hasn't gone away.
The most common solution, using "they" or "them," irks grammarians when the subject is singular. "One" is another pronoun substitute, and one that falls short. "When one opens one's book, one will read from it." That's kind of awkward. Beyond grammatical and aesthetic concerns are the sociopolitical. Folks in the transgender community have long charged that "he" or "she" forces them into categories they don't necessarily identify with.
DeLuna says "hu" has been well-received within the transgender community. And she has given her creation a jump-start of sorts: She recently edited a book of essays about the historian J.G.A. Pocock and insisted that the book's writers use the pronoun. "I had to be very tactful," she said, but added that all the contributors went along with it.
It's an uphill battle, DeLuna knows, but she holds out hopes that "hu" will enter everyday speech.
Good luck with that, says Dennis Baron, author of "Grammar and Gender."
"It's hard to say 'I got a great idea' and get other people to say 'let's do it,' " he said. "There's the 'you're not the boss of me' response. People want to be correct, but they don't want to be corrected."
Baron says more than 100 different alternative pronouns have been suggested since the mid-19th century. Some are combinations of male and female pronouns, like "heesh." Others borrow from other languages, such as "ta" from the Mandarin. None has taken hold.
"Of all the words in language, pronoun systems tend to be more conservative," said Baron, who teaches at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Change moves at a glacial pace, he says.
But progress has been made, DeLuna says. Until the 1960s, few people thought twice about using "he" as an all-inclusive pronoun. But to modern ears, using "he" across the board sounds more jarring than "they."
Gender-neutral pronouns have found limited success in academia. Among Connecticut Wesleyan students, for instance, the preferred alternative pronouns are "ze," "zim" and their possessive, "hir." But even within the progressive environs of that university, some professors have reservations about words that haven't made their way into most dictionaries.
Matthew Sharpe, who teaches English at Wesleyan, says he's politically sympathetic to the cause of gender-neutral pronouns. "Aesthetically, though, they rankle," he said in an e-mail. "But so does 'their,' which more and more people seem to use as the possessive form of the general pronoun. I don't think we've found a good solution to the problem yet."
DeLuna has learned people take their pronouns seriously. Even her friends have told her "hu" is a little too radical. That's fine with her - debate is good.
"I'm interested in people having fun with language," she said. "The idea is just to communicate."
These people should be strongly encouraged to commit suicide
Si, tio mio!
Would we say, “Give it to hu” or “Give it to hum”? “You were with hu” or “You were with hum”?This could get very confusing.
lol...that's true.
Someone should tell DeAnn DeLuna that she is missing her true calling in life. Why is she wasting time by trifling with a few pesky English pronouns? Someone should introduce DeLuna to the treasure trove hidden in plain sight within the French language - there's a dictionary full of gendered nouns just begging for the application of her impressive neutering skills.
They have way too much free time on their hands, this would change if they were employed.
Or, we could just sit around sipping espresso and speaking Esperanto.
Perhaps we should ask DeAnn to ping us when someone who actually gives a damn is discovered.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Hu's on first?
“Ne,” “hizer,” “thon,” “shem” and “herm” are just a few that came along and faded quickly.
Must’ve been rejects from Disney’s Dwarf closet.
Hu(h)?
Kelly Hu - defying gender neutrality!
Very nice!
There is also the Egyptian god Hu. Ironically, he was the god of the spoken word.
What's wrong with "it"?
| Gender | non- gender- specific pronoun | non- gender- specific personal pronoun | male | female | hemoth (hermoph- rodite) |
neut (asexual - person neuter) e.g. neuter bioids, many AIs & aioids |
object (impersonal neuter) | plural (generic) |
| singular (Subject) | e / ey | per | he | she | se | je | it | they |
| singular (Object) | em | per | him | her | hir | jer | it | them |
| possessive adjective | eir | pers | his | hers | hir | jers | its | their |
| possessive pronoun | eirs | pers | his | hers | hirs | jers | its | theirs |
| Reflexive | emself or eirself | perself | himself | herself | hirself | jerself | itself | themself or theirself |
Now ... why did they do it? Any person that is eventually uploaded or sentient robot/AI will not have a gender.
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