Issue #24

SILLY LINGUISTICS THE MAGAZINE FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS
Langua g e
Rac i sm
neutral GRAMMAR
izing POLICE
gender IN TOWN
the shifting landscape of gender
THE MAGAZINE FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS : ISSUE #24 : MAY 2020

table of contents
3
S IS FOR … SPEED
By Chris Davy
6 30
LANGUAGE RACISM
DIARY OF A STUDENT TEACHER By Stefano Nunes
By Giulia Raus
9 34
LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN
CHECK ‘YA NECKS! FRANCE: A VERY SHORT HISTORY
By Tiffany Marcum By Emma Tolmie
14 39
THE GRAMMAR POLICE DOWN AMONG THE DAMPWINKELS
By Victor Carreão By Emmeline Burdett
19 42
THE LEGAL PERSON: PART 2 STRUCTURES OF HYPOCORISM IN
By David Wells FRENCH: TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
AND PET NAMES.
24 By Valentin Pradelou
CAN A NEW LANGUAGE 46

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
DISPATCHES FROM LINGUISTS:
By Dewni Pathegama FRENCH LESSONS.
27 By Aisla McArthur
NEUTRALIZING GENDER
By Gil Cohen
49
WHAT’S YOUR PRONOUN?: A
REVIEW
By Holly Gustafson
Cover page photo by United Nations COVID-19 Response on Unsplash; Content page photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
This week's page numbers are in Dutch!
May 2020, Issue #24 Silly Linguistics: The Magazine for Language Lovers
3 | DRIE
S is for...
Style it out
By Chris Davy
4 | VIER
Ok, so let me start by saying, my intention was to write an article

called S is for...Syncretism. If you don’t know that that is, don’t worry,
neither do I! Hahaha! I mean, I have an idea of what it is, I have my
interpretation of what syncretism is. But even if you do a quick internet
search of what syncretism is you’ll soon stumble across one of the
biggest problems that we have within language; the fact that a lot of
things have multiple definitions. Forget the fact we have multiple
languages.

Oh man, it’s like the hardest part of communication. One word, a
hundred different meanings and uses. What chance do we really have
of understanding each other? What chance do we really have as
individuals, let alone as a collective, of making sense of anything.

So, I’ll leave delving into syncretism in greater detail for another time.
Because I want to put together a ‘good’ article on it. Like, I want to give
you something a bit juicy on it. Because there is so much to that topic.
But I’ll do a bit more digging and then come back to you with
something a little bit more than just a word. Although, a word is often
all the S is for...Seed that you need to get yourself going and get stuck
into something. Syncretism is definitely one of my seeds. Something
that I draw on frequently for motivation and serenity.
Now, this might seem a little bit awkward. Start an article, and the first
few paragraphs of the article be about the fact that I wanted to write
an article on something else, but I didn’t. Now what? It’s almost
embarrassing, in a way it kind of makes me
look a bit stupid. Errrrrr, how am I going to get out of this one?
Well, I had the idea whilst I was writing the first sentence of the S is
for... Syncretism article. And I figured whilst I was writing it, that this is a
way, way, way more important topic. And this applies to anything, so it
can apply to learning language, using language, whatever. It literally
applies to anything. Writing
articles...?
S is for...Style it out
If you don’t know what that means, have never heard of it, or have an
idea but aren’t sure if it’s the same as what I’m getting at. Fear not, let
me eradicate any uncertainty you might have. What I’m talking about
is basically making it up. Making the best of it. Winging it. Improv.
Making it look like you meant it.
5 | VIJF
How does that help you? Well, you are trying to learn language, right?
You are trying to learn more about linguistics, right? But, let’s not kid
ourselves you prrrrooooobbbabblly make mistakes daily. Like, literally
everyday. Might only be the odd one or two. You make a typo, but
correct it.
You go to say something, but mix your words. You stutter, you
mumble, you get tongue tied. If you don’t do those things, you maybe
do something like them. And if you don’t do it every day you do it
every now and again, or at the very least you did it once upon a time.

If you don’t make mistakes and never ever have, then you’ve had
some incredible teachers, and are some kind of super human as far
as I’m concerned. For the rest of us mere mortals, we make mistakes.
So we have a couple of choices. Either we get really annoyed at
ourselves and stressed out about it. Or, we accept it, learn from it, aim
to not make the same mistake again, and move on.
We style it out.

If you already do that in some shape or form then great. Genuinely,
I’m happy for you. If you don’t do that, then now you at least know
about it. You know about the concept. So next time you make a
mistake and perhaps start to feel a little bit stressed, frustrated, or
embarrassed about it. Just style it out. Make things better again,
somehow. I mean, it’s up to you how you do it. I can’t say getting into
the habit of being like,

“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”
all the time is a good thing. Because it isn’t. You’d basically get a
reputation of being a blagger and a liar. So you know, be sincere and
cool about it. Don’t try and con anyone. That’s not cool. That’s just not
healthy. I mean if you really want to do that, perhaps consider
becoming an actor or a politician?

Phew, almost looked like I didn’t know what I was doing with this whole
article writing thing for a second. Hoping I got away with that one. Oh
no wait. I meant it. Or did I?

Meh, whatever. I’m going to find something else to do. I wonder what’s
in the fridge?
6 | ZES
Diary of a
Student
Teacher
BY GIULIA RAUS
Following on from the first instalment in the March

issue Giulia Raus continues to give us an insight into
teaching language.
Photo by Laika Notebooks on Unsplash
7 | ZEVEN
Diary of a Student Teacher is a window form a sentence, also the time for teaching
overlooking the sea of languages. I am here languages in school is not much and
to describe to you what I can see from during those hours it is necessary to focus
there. Now? I am listening to a massive on many things: be sure students are
question echoing from the outside having fun, that they are understanding,
“Why?????” that everyone is following and so on and so
forth. So, to the “why” that echoes outside
It comes from my first-year students, the my window I would answer with “how?”.
ones who did not choose spontaneously,
yet, to study a foreign language. It is hard How can we change students’ minds? What
for English native speakers to understand is the best method to teach languages?
why they would need a second language
while the entire world is focusing on As I said at the end of my previous article,
learning theirs. To be honest, they are not British students struggle particularly on
completely wrong. At the end of the day learning grammar but is it actually their
English is the most spoken language in the fault though? Of course not, pupils are
world. Nevertheless, I am here to change there to learn and if addressed in the right
their mind, and yours if you think the same! way they will give you so much satisfaction.

Learning a language is an important tool It is necessary to start taking into
that allows you to open up your mind and consideration what we are teaching and to
gives you so many possibilities. It does not whom, in my case I am teaching French (a
matter if you can be understood basically Latin language) to British students who
everywhere. Nelson Mandela once said “if speak English (a Germanic language), the
you talk to a man in a language he language family is different and probably it
understands, that goes to his head. If you will be harder understanding some rules,
talk to him in his language, that goes to his but harder, not impossible. As an Italian
heart.” I strongly believe that this needs to speaker I do not struggle understanding
sink deeply in everyone. Moreover, every the role of genders, plurals and
language might come in handy one day. memorising verbs (apart for German but
who does not, right?), especially if we are
Anyway! Getting down to business, learning talking about languages of the same family
languages can be as frustrating as studying (French, Spanish, Romanian, etc.), because
Maths. Especially when you are eleven and they have many similarities (but yes they
after one year, you cannot see are different languages and no I cannot
improvements. Sometimes you can barely speak Spanish only because I am Italian!).
8 | ACHT
On the other hand, English speakers are teenager to say something in French,
not familiars with genders, and they do and you ask the same to an Italian
take time when it comes to learning teenager there are high chances that
agreements for adjectives and verbs. neither of them will know how to
answer and what to say. On one side
It is clear then, that they need a different now, we have a mostly grammarless
approach. Different from the Italian one approach and on the other side a
where we start studying grammar or the mostly grammatical approach, but both
French one that is quite similar to the of them, at the end of the day are not
Italian. But how? And which approach? I liked by students and do not encourage
noticed that the general English method them to start studying a new language.
concerns starting with fixed topics where
pupils have to learn a range of vocab and Teaching to older English students, on
ready-made sentences that allow them to the contrary, it is different, grammar
create some scripts and face some fixed now is there, and it needs to be
conversations. I am not a big supporter of studied, also they already got over the
this method because I find it restrictive “why” question because they
and does not allow pupils to use their own spontaneously choose to keep studying
reasoning to build a sentence. that language. In Italy when the
students grow up, they have to focus
Nevertheless, a strong grammatical on vocabulary and learn how to create
approach would discourage and confuse more complex structures and how to
them. As I first stepped into a year 9 class, speak fluently, grammar is supposed to
I asked them to conjugate the verb “être” be memorised.
and this time I did not even receive a joke
as an answer, they just stared at me as if I I do not particularly worry about older
were an alien. As I said, British students students, what actually worries me is
are not taught to conjugate verbs and they how to help the youngest to like this
struggle identifying personal pronouns, subject whilst teaching them the hard
plurals and singulars (for instance: second and boring parts of it.
person plural of the verb to have).
Which method is actually the best? Or
Nevertheless, if you ask to a British better: is there a method considered
“the best” between countries?
9 | NEGEN
Check
‘Ya
NECKS!
By Tiffany Marcum
Photo by I8r8oosh on Unsplash
10 | TIEN
When you think about the amazing human body’s most valuable
parts, you’d definitely overlook the neck. It houses a source of
strength when lifting, upper vertebrae, the trachea, esophagus
and a little thing known as the Thyroid gland. A butterfly-shaped
gland that sits precariously close to the vocal cords controls body
temperature regulation, mood, and digestive habits. Injuries to the
area can cause serious problems. My 2016 experience with a
hemorrhagic thyroid cyst almost caused vocal cord paralysis.
Educate your loved ones on utilizing sign language or creative lists
if this happens to you. “Check Ya Neck!” Is a phrase I post on social
media as a result.

In February I noticed that I was super tired all the time. I chalked
that up to just leaving a stressful career of care-giving for others
around-the-clock and neglected my own needs. My mom
approached me with questions.
“What is that on your neck? Do you have a sore throat?”
“What?” I felt my throat.
“Come toward the mirror.” She insisted.
“It must be the shadow. I certainly haven’t burnt myself with
styling implements in many moons. Oh. I see that. What IS that?
That wasn’t there yesterday!” Thankfully, a nurse was just leaving
after caring for a loved one. I was prompted to ask his opinion.
“Let me see. Oh yeah. You’ll want to go to the ER now.” He
assessed after a gentle boop of the more and more evident lump.
I’m serious. YOU MAY CHOKE ON THAT. They will want a sample.”
Thankfully the ER was not crowded and I just had some small
tests. The ultrasound scared staff into ordering a STAT referral to
the local Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist next door. After some
paperwork run-around, I got an appointment. The office was
crowded. My aunt and mom were in attendance with me,
thankfully. An aide in blue scrubs called for me.
“Tiffany M.? Oh, you have a big one there.”
“It came out of nowhere,” I replied.
“I see. Follow me, please. The doctor will be right with you.”
11 | ELF
I sat upright in a strange chair that resembled an old Barber. I

glanced around and saw a sharp box receptacle and started to feel
more nervous. My mom and aunt reassured me it would be fine.
“Hi Tiffany,” the doctor greeted warmly. “Nice to meet you and your
family. I see your lump here. It looks like a very common Thyroid
Nodule. I see these every week. Let me prepare for a second to drain
this fluid and it should go away completely. Ok?
“Drain? NEEDLE?” I repeated, looking at all eyes in the room, feeling
trapped.
“Well, yeah. We send the fluid off to pathology and see if we need
further tests. I can do it fast without numbing you if you hate
needles.”
“I would prefer the numbing please.” I begged.
He returned in less than two seconds with a syringe of Lidocaine

ready for my throat. I sat completely still and accepted it. A hot rush
came over my face immediately following the shot.
“It’s ok ma’am, breathe slowly,” they assured.
“I am trying to,” I replied, shaking all over. A few minutes later the
doctor returned.
“May I try again and get you all finished up?”
“Okay,” I replied half-heartedly.
“Ok. Do not move, sneeze, swallow, or cough while I am here ok? You
should just feel a little pressure pressing but nothing else.”
I left the office that day with a bandage. No fears for choking, losing
my voice, or cancers, and believed it would go away. It persisted.
Two weeks later...
“Morning again!”
“Hey.”
“A few things to discuss today. Your right side nodule is still
inconclusive. I need to do surgery to see what it is. I won’t know until
I look in there. It could be cancer. The risks associated with this
surgery include paralysis of the vocal cords.”
I glanced at mom and we shared this thought: I’m getting an

Electrolarynx device now.
Photo by Esther Driehaus on Unsplash
12 | TWAALF
“So, I will need a speech device? Like the one from the smoking
commercials?”
“Oh, something like an electrolarynx? Let’s focus on getting rid of
the concerning mass first.”
Instead of growing morose, I started to think about my own voice.

How I had taken it so for granted. I was never a singer, aside from a
karaoke night. I knew sign language from my years working with
deaf patients. That would’ve been helpful to me in this scenario, if
my loved ones knew what I was signing.

A mental goal was to gather a list of my favorite and most
commonly used words.
Quick Favorites: Babes, My cat’s names, lame
Quick Commonly Used: sick, tired, No, sleep
A list that I could easily point to. The audiobook I listened to,
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathan Safran Foer,
had characters who carried notepads with them and wrote on
their walls. On their hands the words YES and NO were tattooed.
Which sounded incredibly efficient In previous jobs, I worked with
disabled adults. Some had speech problems and we would create
an activity board for them to point to. Items like a spoon for
"snack" or a sock for "laundry day".
In another promising thought, I remembered that most cars have

GPS. Talking turn-by-turn directions. With those devices and apps
you can customize the voice. I previously joked that I would
change mine to Jim Carrey or Chris Rock. I aspired to tune my
electrolarynx to an appropriate sound, if possible.
Surgery Day. Bring on losing my voice.

“How are we feeling? You’re next up!” the doc chirped.
“IIII am. Okay.” I slurred from the nerve meds.
“Okay. So today we are looking at a partial removal. Not necessarily
the whole thing unless we need to.” He whipped out a sharpie and
13 | DERTIEN
drew on my throat near the voice box. They will be by to collect

you in minutes.”
Angelic-looking surgeons swept me away with kindness toward

the O.R. I waved bye to my loved ones as they went back to the
waiting room. What felt like minutes later, I felt something being
taken from my mouth and warm fluid. Other muffled voices came
through. I had already fallen back to sleep and recall talking a lot
in the Post Anesthesia unit.
“You’re talking!” The nurse in the unit said.
“I am?” I replied, still loopy. “I lost my speech and voice in there
though. They removed it. I may get an Electrolarynx.”
“Do you want a drink? Need to keep that throat from getting dry.”
She handed me a small can of generic soda with a straw. It may
have been her attempt to keep me quiet.
“Hey! You did great!” The approaching doctor stated.
“I did. Thanks.”
“She can eat anything she wants. No screaming, no singing, no
vocal strains, no driving, and no lifting. Change the tubes every
4 hours while awake. Come back for removal and results from
pathology.”
“Is this my new voice box? The larynx thing?” I rambled.
“No. Your voice appears to be working now. This is your drain. You’ll
need this for a few days.”

Days after returning home, My voice was broken but intact. Talking
was a chore and felt similar to severe pharyngitis. Or swallowing a
tiger. I was ultimately relieved to hear that I did not have cancer, or
need for devices. I know what to do in the future if vocal and
verbal paralysis becomes an issue. I never liked stretches and
screaming afterwards, and vowed to never take my speech for
granted again. CHECK ‘YA NECKS!!!
Photo by Megan Bagshaw on Unsplash
14 | VEERTIEN
T H E
A M M A R
G R
PO L I C E
R E Ã O
CA R
CTO R
V I
BY
15 | VIJFTIEN
The internet is an amazing place and is flooded with all sorts of information. It is easy
to get sidetracked when surfing its endless virtual waters, but I dare say there is one
type of lighthouse which may point us towards the trending topics of the week:
memes.

Oxford's online dictionary defines a meme as "a humorous image, video, piece of text,
etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users". It
does not really matter if we are talking about a political scandal, a reality show celebrity
or funny cats, memes show what is trendy and under the spotlight in a specific period
of time. On the other hand, some memes seem to endure the fast-changing tides of
the internet for a longer time, which reminds me of this meme: the Grammar Police . 1
Now, for those who believe in signs it is possible to think that Virgos are the ones who
love correcting other people’s grammar and spelling, but that is not necessarily true.
Society in general preaches a lot about the right use of language, which includes
speaking and writing correctly and aims on terminating “bad grammar and spelling”.
But, the bottom-line question here is ‘who establishes “right” or “wrong” when
language is used’?
In order to tackle this subject, I will talk a little about the Brazilian use of direct object
pronouns (accusative) and how traditional grammar manuals perceive them versus
what is observed daily routine in Brazilian streets and its inhabitants. As we know, this
pronoun "is a word such as 'me', 'him', 'us' and 'them', which is used instead of a noun to
stand in for the person or thing most directly affected by the action expressed by the
verb" .
2
1 Picture available on: < https://imgflip.com/meme/39176907/Grammar-police?sort=hot >.

2 As defined by Collins Dictionary, available on:
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/pt/aprendendo-gramática-espanhol/personal-pronouns-direct-object.
16 | ZESTIEN
It is also important to emphasize that Brazilian Portuguese differs from European

Portuguese in many ways and also that one of its main differences rests on this
type of pronoun. Even though Brazil got its independence from Portugal in 1822,
nowadays many examples of a “good language practice” are still based on the
European variety of Portuguese.
Personal pronouns are described in Portuguese as it follows:
ENGLISH PORTUGUESE
I Eu
You Tu/Você
He Ele
She Ela
It Ele/Ela
We Nós/A gente
You Vós/Vocês
They Eles/Elas
These pronouns are used whenever a verb is being conjugated, similar to English.
Some pronouns are found in a greater or lesser quantity depending on the Brazilian
region. For example, “tu” is usually more observed in the South of Brazil and in the
Northeast region (among others), whereas “você” is seen in other territories with a
bigger frequency of use. The pronoun “vós” (for the plural “you”) is not used at all in
spoken Brazilian Portuguese, but may be heard in the European variety of
Portuguese. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the direct object (accusative)
pronouns in Portuguese:
ENGLISH PORTUGUESE
Me Me
You Te
Him O
Her A
It O/A
Us Nos
You Vos
Them Os/as
17 | ZEVENTIEN
In Portuguese, these pronouns may be placed before verbs (in a process called
“proclysis”) or after them (in a process called “enclisis”), and this is where all the
discussion regarding object pronouns begin. Different grammarians point varied
rules for one to know where to place them. Whenever a proclysis is performed,
certain words must appear before the pronoun, functioning as an “attractor” for
that direct object. One example is the use of the relative pronoun “que” - similar to
“that/which” in sentences such as number (1) below:
(1) This is the man that helps him
(1a) With proclysis – Esse é o homem que o ajuda
In the sentence above, enclisis cannot be used, as the relative pronoun “que”
attracts the direct object “o” (“him”). Therefore, sentence number (1a) is how the
use of the direct object pronoun should be employed. In other cases, confusion
may arise:
(2) Let me know when you need to help her
(2a) With enclisis – Deixe-me saber quando você precisa ajudá-la
(2b) With proclysis – Deixe-me saber quando você precise a ajudar
First it is interesting to see that “let me know” only accepts one “correct” form
according to grammarians: enclisis, as sentences must not begin with direct
object pronouns (according to grammar books and to grammarians). Second, “you
need to help her” accepts both enclisis and proclysis, but, whenever the former
appears in a context which presents a verb on the infinitive tense, the last “r”
must be dropped and an “l” must be included before the direct object.
Intriguing, isn’t it, dear reader? As a matter of fact, these grammar rules were
considered so confusing that even Brazilian legal texts were subject a
proofreading focused on them. During the creation of the Brazilian Civil Code, in
the beginning of 1900, more than 15 years of revision were taken. Among its
debated law articles, the grammatical use of proclysis and enclisis was on the
table as well.
18 | ACHTTIEN
Another thing that also catches the eye of the Grammar Police in Brazil is the
substitution of the direct object pronouns for personal pronouns. For
instance, in Brazilian Portuguese it is very common to hear people saying “eu
vi ela” (which, in a free translation, can be understood as “I saw she”) instead
of “eu a vi” (“I saw her”). Let’s go back to the sentences used before as
examples to take a better look at this:
(3) This is the man that helps him

(3a) With enclisis – Esse é o homem que ajuda ele

(4) Let me know when you need to help her
(4a) With enclisis – Me deixe saber quando você precisa ajudar ela
Proclysis with personal pronouns in the position of direct object cannot be

used in the examples above, as a personal pronoun before a verb would show
somebody performing an action, not being susceptible to it. Besides that, it
is common to observe that Brazilians produce sentences (or stretches of
language) started by direct object pronouns. However, when writing formal
texts, enclisis is usually employed. Different grammar books, based in the
European variety of Portuguese point the cases above as a bad example of
language, although a few grammar books based on the daily use of language
point such cases as acceptable in terms of grammar rules.

In a nutshell, what is observed in the spoken variety of the Brazilian
Portuguese is not what is usually considered correct by grammarians and
grammar books related to the Portuguese language. Most of them are biased
towards the European variety of Portuguese. Two systems of language
seem to operate in Brazil: a spoken one and a written one. Both have their
own idiosyncrasies, but only the written dictates the grammar rules for
language – which can be understood as a ghost rule. As we know, writing was
a technology established for the better administration of the first cities. In
the relationship established between a metropolis and a colony, the former
would dictate the grammatical model to be followed by the latter. This
explains a lot about the current linguistic outcome in Brazil, in terms of
models of language to be followed. The connection between cities and
languages goes beyond that, of course, and is a subject for another article.
19 | NEGENTIEN
THE
LEGAL
PERSON:
PART 2
BY DAVID WELLS
For part one see last month's issue.

As we have seen, in the English language, the word “person” turns out to
have more meanings than most people realize. Well, most people who are
not lawyers, anyway. Context matters when figuring out what words mean,
and “person” can have many contexts in the world of legal communication.
I often say that legal writing appears dense and impenetrable to most
people for a reason that seems to defy common sense: The purpose of legal
language is to be precise, meaning that it tries to avoid as much ambiguity
and vagueness as possible. Legal writing uses words that have very specific
meanings, like “cease and desist,” “pursuant to,” and “in witness whereof.”
It still runs head-first into the difficulty of human communication, with all
our complex brain parts throwing even the most carefully-crafted message
into disarray.
And then there’s the word “person.” I have written about how “person,” in a
legal sense, can mean more than just individual humans with dreams for
the future and anxiety in the present. The word can also refer to
businesses, organizations, and other entities. It goes a step further, too.
“Personhood” can mean the set of rights that come with being a….well, a
person. See what I mean about the difficulty of human communication?
Somewhere along the way, after “person” stopped referring only to what I
call “people persons,” other kinds of “persons” started getting some of the
rights that people persons enjoy. In the United States, we call this
“corporate personhood.” Before we get to that, though, let’s review a bit.
20 | TWINTIG
People Persons and Other Persons

A better — or at least less cheeky — term for “people
persons” is “natural persons.” This refers to individual
humans who were born out of moms, who need water and
food to live, and who are often afraid of spiders.
On the other end of this spectrum are “juridical persons,”
meaning “persons” who are only “persons” because the law
says so. It applies to organizations and entities that have
some kind of legal status, like corporations, partnerships,
trusts, and estates.
A broader category that could include everybody I just
mentioned — or to put that in legalese, “a broader category
that encompasses the aforementioned groups” — is that of
“legal persons.” This term often means the same thing as
“juridical persons,” but it can also refer to anyone or
anything that has been granted “legal personhood.”
Occasionally, this includes non-human, non-business
things like animals or natural formations. But that is not
what I came here today to talk about.
Do Non-People Persons Have Rights?

Some interesting legal developments over the
past few decades have involved the question of a bit more fair, perhaps for it to be a “person”
whether corporations and other “legal in the sense of possessing legal rights.
persons” have rights in the same sense that
natural persons have rights. In the United Looking at it from an etymological standpoint,
States, the Bill of Rights protects rights like both corporations and estates fit at least one
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and meaning of the Latin word persona, which can
freedom from “unreasonable searches and refer to an “assumed character,” a mask, or a
seizures,” to name a few. Other English- “false face.” Corporations, estates, and other
speaking countries have similar safeguards juridical persons need natural persons — a
for individuals. CEO, and executor, and so forth — to act on
The category of “juridical persons” covers a their behalf. When a CEO acts on behalf of a
wide variety of entities. It includes corporation, they assume the role of the
corporations, which are usually formed to corporation.
engage in business and make a profit, and We will not answer this question today,
estates, which exist to distribute a deceased because lawyers and legal scholars have been
person's property to the person’s heirs. One arguing about it for over a century. What we
could argue that corporations should not have can do is look at how a few English-speaking
the same rights as natural persons because, to countries have approached it. Since I live in
oversimplify the matter, they only exist the United States and know its legal system
because individuals needed a way to do better than any other, I will start with a
business without risking their own money. On country I have never visited.
the other hand, an estate is only created when
somebody dies. It seems
21 | EENENTWINTIG
New Zealand
The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (the
“NZBOR”) answers this question rather directly,
although it still leaves much open to
interpretation. Section 29 of this law states that
the rights it protects apply to both “legal persons”
and “natural persons,” except when the NZBOR
states otherwise or when it is not “practicable.”
Guidelines to this law published by the New
Zealand Ministry of Justice note one way the
NZBOR might make an exception for “legal
persons.” Section 8 states that “no one shall be
deprived of life” except through due process of
law “consistent with the principles of fundamental
justice.”
According to the Ministry of Justice, no court in
New Zealand has considered whether the words
“no one” extend beyond natural persons. It turns
to Canadian law, which has recognized limits on
how much a “legal person” can have the same
rights as a “natural person.”
Canada
The Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms (the “Charter”) does not The court went on to find that the
mention anything about the rights of Charter does not necessarily protect
“legal persons” versus “natural persons.” corporations “against deprivations of
Instead of saying, as the NZBOR does, some sort of ‘economic liberty.’” It based
that “no one” may be deprived of life this on another part of § 7, which
without due process, § 7 of the Charter describes a right to “security of the
states that “everyone has the right to person,” but does not mention the word
life...and the right not to be deprived “property.” The court therefore
thereof.” concluded that § 7 “confer[s] protection
on a singularly human level.” It
Saying that “everyone” has a certain specifically mentioned how the charter’s
right is functionally the same as saying language differs from that of the U.S. Bill
that “no one” may be deprived of that of Rights.
right. The Canadian Supreme Court has
held, however, that this only extends to The Canadian Supreme Court has
“natural persons.” In a 1989 decision, recognized religious rights for a
Irwin Toy Ltd. v. Quebec (Attorney corporation, although in a different way
General), the court held that recognizing than the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1982’s R.
a “right to life” for corporations “would v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., the Canadian
stretch the meaning of the right to life court struck down a law that banned the
beyond recognition.” The context of the sale of goods on Sunday. A corporation
decision involved a corporation facing had been “charged with unlawfully
dissolution in bankruptcy, and an carrying on the sale of goods on a
argument that this amounted to a Sunday.” The court found that the law
deprivation of the corporation’s “life.” had no “secular purpose,” and therefore
The court wasn’t buying it. violated the Charter.
22 | TWEEËNTWINTIG
The United States
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. "The Court does not wish to hear argument on
Constitution states that “no person the question whether the provision in the
shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution
property, without due process of law.” For
almost eight decades after the Fifth which forbids a state to deny to any person
Amendment was ratified in 1791, this was within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
held to apply only to the federal laws applies to these corporations. We are all
government, not the individual state of the opinion that it does."
governments. That changed after the U.S.
Civil War. The Fourteenth Amendment,
ratified in 1868, directly applies this to the The reporter therefore inserted a remark
states as well as the national government. made by the Chief Justice before either
(This may seem odd to people in other party had argued their case. It was not part
countries, but trust me, it is a very big deal of the court’s actual decision, but later
for some people here.) These are both court decisions have given it the force of
known as the “Due Process Clause.” law. History has never quite worked out why
the reporter — who was a former rail-road
The Fourteenth Amendment also contains company president, I might add — decided
the Equal Protection Clause, which states to include the remark with the decision, or
that the government may not “deny to any whether he was part of anything scandalous
person...the equal protection of the laws.” behind the scenes.
The use of the word “property” in the Due
Process Clause, along with the use of the Courts do not mention Santa Clara County
word “person” in both clauses, have led to by name when they issue rulings granting
various court decisions finding that corporations legal rights previously only
corporations and other juridical persons enjoyed by natural persons. Chief Justice
have some of the rights that natural Waite’s remark looms over everything,
persons also have. though, and the meaning of the word
“person” may get stretched further and
It arguably began with an 1886 decision by further.
the U.S. Supreme Court, Santa Clara
County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. The I should note that the Supreme Court has
court did not actually address the question found some limits on how much of a
of whether corporations are “persons,” or “person” corporations and other juridical
whether they have legal rights. The person persons can be. In 1975, the court held in
responsible for publishing the Supreme United States v. Sourapas and Crest
Court’s opinions, known as the Reporter of Beverage Company that the Fifth
Decisions of the Supreme Court of the Amendment right against self-
United States, included the following in his incrimination does not apply to
summary of the decision: corporations. The corporation in that case
had argued that the use of the word
“taxpayer” in a series of tax regulations
One of the points made and discussed at length implied that corporate taxpayers had a
in the brief of counsel for defendants in error right not to incriminate themselves.
Linguistics carried the day, though, The
was that "corporations are persons within the court noted the use of personal pronouns
meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment to the — “he” and “him” — to describe taxpayers
Constitution of the United States." Before throughout the regulations, which indicated
argument, MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE said: to the justices that it only applies to natural
persons.
23 | DRIEËNTWINTIG
The two most famous, or infamous, U.S.

Supreme Court decisions involving the
constitutional rights of corporations
involve rights covered by the First
Amendment. The court’s 2010 decision in
Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission held that freedom of speech
prohibited the government from
restricting political contributions by
corporations.
The decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
Stores, Inc., issued in 2014, does not
directly address whether corporations
have the right to freedom of religion
under the First Amendment. Instead, the
court that a for-profit corporation can
assert a claim of religious belief under a
law known as the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act. Unlike the decision in
Canada’s Big M Drug Mart case, the
corporation in this case was not
challenging the constitutionality of a law
so much as arguing that it should be
exempted from a law because of its (the
corporation’s) religious beliefs. This
certainly seems to leave the door open for
a future First Amendment case that finds
that a corporation or other organization
can be a religious “person.” It could get
very interesting. Whether that is a good
or a bad “interesting” is too political a
question to get into this late in an article.
Keep an eye out in the next few issues for

further exploration of how the word
“person” can be stretched.
24 | VIERENTWINTIG
CAN A NEW
LANGUAGE
CHANGE YOUR
PERSPECTIVE?
By Dewni Pathegama
25 | VIJFENTWINTIG
I t was Charlemagne who said, “To have a second language is to

possess a second soul”, marking the earliest deduction by man that
the language we speak has an influence on how we perceive the
world around us. But then, it was William Shakespeare who dared
ask “What is in a name? That which we call a Rose by any other
name would smell just as sweet”, and made most people question
whether there is any influence of language on our perception of
reality. Since then, linguists all over the world have more or less been
leaning towards either of these concepts. Some claim that language
shapes our thoughts and therefore how we see the external
environment, and others claim that it is impossible for a language to
be so influential.
American linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf modernized this discussion.

He put forth a concept called Whorfianism, where he said that
language one speaks shapes their reality, and said: “Language is not
simply a reporting device for experience but a defining framework
for it”. Still, a majority of the linguistics community stood with
Shakespeare. According to the Linguistic Society of America, humans
are able to remember and experience things for which we have no
words to describe. Furthermore, giving alternate words to something
does not change what it represents. This lead to a temporary demise
of Whorfianism.

For a few years however, this concept has been on the rise amongst
the linguistic communities mainly owing to the research of Professor
Lera Boroditsky, an assistant professor of psychology, neuroscience,
and symbolic systems at Stanford University. Through the data sets
collected by her and her team of researchers, from people speaking
various languages like Greek, Russian, Chinese, Aboriginal
Australian, and more, they have found conclusive evidence that
people who speak different languages look at the world differently.
Professor Boroditsky mentions in her paper that “…when you're
learning a new language, you're not simply learning a new way of
talking, you are also inadvertently learning a new way of thinking”.
It is clear then, that a language dictates not just how we see the world,
but also our cognitive abilities. This means that the language one
speak will influence how they recognize colors, genders, and even
how they experience an event. For an example, the color “Ao” in
Japanese includes both “Blue” and “Green” in English. So given the
opportunity to select Blue from a set of colors including Green,
Japanese speakers would take more time than English speakers. In
the same way, given the opportunity to separate light Blue from dark
Blue, an English speaker would take slightly more time than a
Russian speaker because Russian language distinguishes between
these two shades explicitly.
26 | ZESENTWINTIG
This means then, that our version of reality is crafted, to some extent,
by the language we speak. The language we speak not only influences
our reality but also how we react to it. This is supported by the research
of behavioral economist Keith Chen, who studies about the thinking
patterns of people speaking “futured” and “futureless” languages.
According to his findings, English speakers who have to differentiate
between past, present, and future, tends to have fewer savings for the
future than people who speak languages like Chinese which does not
have a definitive future tense. According to Chen, this is because, when
one speaks of the future as a separate aspect, it would feel more distant
and hence they would be less likely to save money now for a distant
future.
So if just one language can shape our reality to this extent, what would
be the effect if we speak more than one? Would there be an effect of
the second language on the world already created by the first language?
Perhaps not so surprisingly, the answer to the latter is yes. Recent
researches have confirmed that while a person’s native language
influences the way in which their thought process takes place when
they start speaking a second language, it allows them to have an
alternate route to the thought process. So in brief, a second language
provides you with a different view of the world and it lets you
comprehend the outcomes of situations in two different perspectives.

This was studied by Panas Athanasopoulos from Lancaster University.
The study focused on bilingual English and German subjects and their
ability to view and describe different events. The theory upon which
this study was built is that the English language requires its speakers to
grammatically position actions within a time-frame, while the German
language requires its speakers to concentrate on the beginning, the
middle, and the end of an event. So when shown a woman walking
down a path, an English speaker will focus more on her journey (the
action itself) while a German speaker will focus more on where she
will end up (the goal). And interestingly, when bilingual speakers were
tested, they shifted their focus depending upon the language being
spoken. So when bilingual German speakers were shown ambiguous
video clips in German in Germany, they leaned towards a goal-oriented
description, and when bilingual Germans were tested in English in the
UK, they leaned more towards an action-based description. And when
the testing language was shifted partway through the process, test
subjects shifted their focus to the language being spoken. This suggests
that when you are bilingual, you can have contrasting frames of mind
and can alternate between them.

If a second language gives you two perspectives to alter back and forth,
imagine when you learn more! A third language will give you a third
perspective, and a fourth will raise your number of views to four. So the
more languages you learn, the more ways there will be for you to look
at, analyze, memorize, and describe a situation, giving you the perfect
tool for decision making. After all, what better way to make a difficult
decision than to look at the situation from a different perspective?
27 | ZEVENENTWINTIG
REDNEG
GNIZILARTUEN
NEUTRALIZING
GENDER
By Gil Cohen
In her research, she asked native
German and Spanish speakers to
describe a key (Schlüssel a masculine
word in German and llave, a feminine
In this modern day and age, the use of word in Spanish) and a bridge (Brücke, a
gendered forms has become a very hot feminine word in German and puente, a
topic. In this era of political correctness, masculine word in Spanish). An
one should not assume someone’s overwhelming number of speakers of
gender, because they may be offended both languages described the item with
(when you assume, you make an ass of u adjectives stereotypical of its gender in
and me). Moreover, from a linguistic- their native tongue: Spanish speakers
cognitive point of view, gendering has a described key as lovely and bridge as
strong effect on our perspective and the strong while German speakers described
way we view the world. Lera Boroditsky, key as rough and bridge as elegant. In
Ph.D., a cognitive scientist and an other words, Boroditsky has shown that
associate professor at UCSD, studies the assigning gender to a noun shapes

connection between language and the way we perceive the item
cognition. described by it.
Photo by Bryan Garces on Unsplash
28 | ACHTENTWINTIG
Is this necessarily a bad thing? Should we

There is a way to neutralize the gender of a
aspire to reach a truly gender-neutral
word in Spanish, but it only works in its
language? What is a truly gender-neutral
written form: the use of @ instead of o/a. So,
language, anyway? Would it be a language
in order to write “my friend eats”, I could
in which it’s impossible to assign gender? Is
write mi amig@ come. Is it a female friend? Is
there no meaning to gender at all? Or
it a male friend? You can’t tell! I find it
should it have no such meaning?
ingenious in its simplicity, but is it elegant?

Does it really solve the problem? Even if it
Let’s say we should try to abolish gendering
doesn’t, it still induces people to talk about
in a language. How would we go about it?
the subject, which is some improvement.
English would be a pretty good candidate
for a truly gender-neutral language, since it

Hebrew, on the other hand, does mark
has no grammatical gender. In addition,
gender in verbs: he ate would be ho akhal
since the comeback of singular they, it is
and she ate would be hi akhla. What could
now easier than ever to be gender-neutral in
we do in Hebrew? There are some solutions
English in an elegant and effortless manner.
in written Hebrew, and they mainly rely on

the use of a slash (/) or period (.) between
But what about languages that do have
words or endings that designate the gender.
grammatical gender, like Spanish, German
So, he/she ate would be ho/hi akhal/a (or
and Hebrew? Such languages can be
akhal.a). That’s all nice and dandy, but what
divided into two groups: languages that
happens if you use several verbs and want to
don’t mark gender on verbs and those that
be inclusive and to not assume genders?
do. In Spanish, the third person conjugation
You would have to use many slashes or
of the verb comer (to eat) is the same,
periods, and from experience, this makes
come, whether the subject is masculine or
text difficult to read and definitely not
feminine – so Spanish doesn’t mark gender
elegant. This is one of the reasons this rather
on verbs.
new phenomenon is being criticized. After
all, language is used for communication, so

Therefore, all it takes is a gender-neutral
if we lessen gender markings in our
pronoun like they, and we’d be good to go,
language, but the communication suffers
right? Well, not quite. Since Spanish has two
and becomes hindered and cumbersome,
grammatical genders, masculine and
have we really achieved our goal?
feminine, nouns are either masculine or
feminine. For example, amigo and amiga

What about spoken language? Using
mean male friend and female friend,
varieties of the aforementioned tricks in
respectively, and the same goes for plural:
spoken language would be very tedious, if at
amigos and amigas. Does it really matter
all possible, and indeed, they aren’t used
whether my friend is male or female? Can I
often. In Hebrew, when addressing a group
refer to them in a way that doesn’t mark
of people that includes at least one male,
gender, like in English?
Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash
29 | NEGENENTWINTIG
social norms dictate that the masculine Another phenomenon is the use of Hebrew’s
plural pronoun, atem, be used, as well as the equivalent of there is/was. The present
male plural ending for verbs, -em. Lately, tense form, yesh, is gender-neutral: yesh kan
there have been attempts to shift the norm khatula (there’s a (female) cat here) and
toward use of the plural form that matches yesh kan kelev (there’s a (male) dog here).
the majority gender in a given group. While The past tense is gendered: haya kan kelev
some people have adopted this, most (there was a (male) dog here) and hayta kan
haven’t, and it has largely disappeared from khatula (there was a (female) cat here), but
day-to-day use, and only more PC-driven more and more often, we hear people saying
people use it. sentences like haya kan khatula, in which
haya’s gender doesn’t match khatula. Is
Can we really achieve-gender neutrality in Hebrew really on its way to lose its
languages like Hebrew? We might be on our grammatical genders, or are we simply
way, but this is due to the “dying” of experiencing several mergers in the
grammatical genders in Hebrew and not language? Only time will tell.
because all Hebrew speakers care about this
topic. That means that the way to reach Even though there are benefits to gender-
gender-neutrality, at least in Hebrew, is by neutrality, studies have shown that in
not having any grammatical gender. Is it gender-less languages like English, even the
possible to have grammatical genders in a use of gender-neutral terms like singular
language and still be able to be gender- they can lead to gendering, since the
neutral? I wrote about grammatical gender “generic” gender is masculine. Gendered
in Hebrew in issue #5, but I will reiterate pronouns in English could enable us to fight
what I wrote there and elaborate a little. off our male-centric inclination and become
more inclusive.
Hebrew has two pairs of second and third
person plural pronouns: atem/aten (second To sum up, should gender-neutrality be one
person masculine and feminine, respectively) of our main goals as a society? Would it
and hem/hen (third person masculine and make our societies more gender-equal or
feminine, respectively). Over the past few would it only hamper them? Whichever the
years, there has been a merger between the answer, I believe that we, as speakers of any
gendered forms, and, surprise surprise, the language, have the ability to greatly affect
winning form was the masculine one. This our language, thought and society.
merger is relevant to almost all speakers,
regardless of socio-economic status, age,
gender and education. In addition, Hebrew
has two sets of cardinal numbers (three, as
in three tables, is a cardinal number), one for
feminine nouns and one for masculine nouns.
Recently, the feminine form for cardinal
numbers has been replacing the masculine
form amongst many, but not all, speakers.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
30 | DERTIG
Language
Racism
BY STEFANO NUNES
Photo by United Nations COVID-19 Response on Unsplash
T
31 | EENENDERTIG
here is no way to dissociate language and colonialism. I am writing this

article right now in English, a testimony to Anglophone success in colonizing
the world, and in its offshoots to continue to colonize the world’s cultures,
greatly thanks to the fact that English was already the global lingua franca. I
have written before about colonialism and language, many of its facets occupy
a great chunk of my daily brain activity, and indeed, there is an intrinsic link
between colonization and language, not least because teaching a people your
language essentially renders them hostage to your literature, music, and culture
in general.
There is also no way to address colonialism without spending some time

discussing its main weapon: racism. Indeed, in order to justify the colonization
of a people, you must somehow justify that what you are dong is correct, and
what better way to do that than to paint them as inferior, and yourself as a
superior culture bringing them civilization; for this, it is essential that you
establish a very clear us/them dichotomy, and race is the most visible way of
establishing a difference, as it is worn on the skin and very difficult to escape.
In this article I would like to write about the racism that permeates our
language, the hidden semiotic cues that condition our brains from the moment
we learn our first words to thinking certain people are different, and, indeed,
inferior. This article was written in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
largest collective catastrophe faced by pretty much everyone in the world; and
yet, politicians find it extremely convenient to use words in order to perpetuate
their racist agendas. I am, of course, speaking of the name “Chinese virus” or
“Chinese flu”.
This is certainly not the first time in history that diseases are named after
places, but we have come a long way in understanding semiotics, and in today’s
context where there is already a widely used official name for the new
coronavirus (the virus is SARS-CoV-2, and causes the illness Covid-19), the use
of this kind of language is purely political finger pointing of the kind that
would have been abhorred in 2009 if the H1N1 virus had been called the
“American flu”. This small linguistic intervention serves as a sort of rallying cry,
or a recognition code, as more and more followers of right-wing politicians
take to the names used by them. This is how racism permeates a culture
already permeable to this sort of culture.
Over the course of history, it becomes unclear which came first, the racism or
the language. This is the case for recurring uses of “black” meaning something
negative and “white” meaning something positive. I content that it does not
matter what the originator of this is, what matters is that these associations are
32 | TWEEËNDERTIG
locked into a self-perpetuating cycle. The examples are numerous: black magic,
black market, black plague, the dark side, little white lies, in Portuguese we have
the term “white envy” (inveja branca) meaning the kind of envy you feel without
it being evil, like when your friend orders a better sandwich than you, or when
they send you a picture of their beautiful beach holiday and you are stuck at
work.
This type of language perpetually conditions us through language to associate

blackness with something frightening (afraid of the dark) and negative, sinful,
forbidden, and evil, and whiteness with purity, cleanliness, positivity, goodness
and relief. This might not necessarily have been manufactured language
specifically to make white people feel superior, but over the course of the many
centuries where Christians and Moors were at war (Moor, by the way, being an
invented term to group together a collective of dark-skinned Muslims without
any ethnological value), this type of language association will certainly have
played a part in the justification of violence against dark-skinned peoples,
paving the way for their enslavement.
The same type of destruction of a group’s particular ethnic specificity happens

across the Americas, where indigenous peoples with centuries of history and
culture, hundreds of different ethnicities, languages, beliefs, and stories, get
grouped together under the name “Indian”, itself the result of a grave mistake
made my European geographers, and a profound form of disrespect both to
indigenous cultures in America and to Indians, whose culture is also thousands
of years old, and fundamentally distinct from that of those people. The same
phenomenon of negative association is used in expressions such as “Indian
giver”, denoting someone who gives something, only to take it back shortly
after. To this day, “Indian” is used to describe indiscriminately American
indigenous peoples and Indian natives, forcing us to use “Indians from India”
to avoid confusion.
There is a very profound phenomenon at play in the aforementioned example,

and a very violent form of racism. The language removes from the “Indian”,
the “Asian”, the “African” their right to individuality, to distinct cultural
markers, and this seeps into the old colonialist idea that “underdeveloped
people” are “deprived of culture”, where most of the time, colonized people are
proficient polyglots, able not only to switch languages, but to code-switch
rapidly between native-informal, native-formal and foreign communication
codes. This happens even as one type of racism is trying to be solved. The term
“African-American” for example, denies not only the diversity of origin
contained in grouping all Blacks under the umbrella “African” because of the
33 | DRIEËNDERTIG
color of their skin, but also the diversity in cultures across Afrodescendants in
the USA, not to mention the qualification of “African American” “Asian
American” “Hispanic American”, which is applied to distinguish “ethnics” from
“European Americans” more commonly referred to as simply “Americans”.
In Brazil, where I am from, the language carries numerous markers of our

colonialist history, and our racist present. We have expressions that translate
extremely badly such as “I am not your negresses”, used when demanding
respect when being addressed, “the color of sin”, used when describing someone
whose skin is melaninous, “samba of the crazy nigger” (Samba do crioulo doido),
denoting a very messy situation, “exportation-type mulatta”, denoting a dark-
skinned woman, whose beauty make her dignified of being exported, which is at
the same time extremely racist and misogynistic. A note on the word “Mulata”:
in Brazil, a lot of linguistic effort is spent euphemizing blackness. Words such as
“moreno” (brunet), “mulato”, “bronzeado” (tan) are used in order to attempt to
eschew the use of the word “preto”, meaning “black”. There is an understanding,
however, manifested by black political movements, that there is no need to
euphemize blackness, as there is no shame in being black. Therefore, the
linguistic re-appropriation of blackness is seen as fundamental to regaining
dignity, especially by unshackling Afrodescendants from words such as
“Mulatto”, a word originating from “mule”, denoting a sort of bastardized
crossing of a horse (a dignified, superior animal) and a donkey (work
equipment).
Similarly, across the languages I speak, there are several occurrences of racist
language becoming so common, people do not see the racism in it any more.
Recently, this has been the cause of much controversy, and fortunately, there is
a movement to abolish this sort of word, but languages are a tough rod to bend,
and we find examples such as in French with “Nègre” (Nigger), meaning a
ghostwriter, of a type of chocolate treat being called “tête de nègre” (nigger head),
or even in expressions such as “travailler comme un nègre” (working as hard as a
nigger).
Addressing these racist expressions, and the historical contexts under which
these words and expressions entered our languages is an absolute necessity for
us to become aware of the weight of our words. Racism has been around longer
than anti-racism, and, of course, this has left very deep scars in the language. We
must work hard to identify them in our own uses of language, in order to begin
the ongoing, arduous work of healing these wounds. Until then, the least we can
do is to refrain from calling Covid-19 the “Chinese Plague”.
34 | VIERENDERTIG
Linguistic
Diversity in
France:
A VERY SHORT HISTORY
By Emma Tolmie
Photo by Silvia Trigo from Pexels
35 | VIJFENDERTIG
Today it is widely – and rightly – accepted that Even though there is a very rich diversity of
with linguistic diversity comes a more enriched languages spoken today in France, and despite
society. Historically, this was not the case in the fact that that many autochthonous minority
France (along with many other countries), languages far out-date the French language,
where minority languages were viewed in a minority languages were considered inferior for
negative light, particularly when the question of centuries. To understand the reasons for this,
national unity was broached. In this article I’m we need to have a look at the social status of
going to look at two different types of minority people who spoke each variety in the past. From
languages and the roles they have played in the 15th century, a variety known as the “King’s
France’s history. The first group of languages French” dominated, as it was spoken by the
are called autochthonous minorities, and these French court in the Île-de-France region. As the
are languages distinct from the national name suggests, it was spoken by France’s rulers
language which have been spoken in and and thus became associated with this powerful
associated with a region since before recent social group. This is the variety which went on to
history began. An example of such a language in become the standard French; in Einar Haugen’s
France is Basque, which has been spoken in the model of language standardisation he lays out
Basque region of south-west France (and in the steps towards the development of a standard
Spain) since before the Roman invasion of Gaul. language, the first of which is selection of a
variety to become the standard. This is almost
I’m also going to look at regional varieties of always the variety spoken by the social elite, and
French itself, so dialects that were spoken this is exactly what happened with French.
particularly in rural regions before the French
language became as standardised as it is today. Once the variety spoken by the court was agreed
These localised varieties have been seen as upon as standard French, all other varieties
inferior to Parisian French, which is the variety were marginalised; standard French was the
that was developed into the modern standard. language that allowed access to power and
Because of this perceived lower status, some wealth. At this time there were so many varieties
believed that these varieties had a negative of French that there were, in some cases, no
impact on national unity, particularly in the clear divisions between language regions but
view of a central authority wanting to maintain rather a gradient of small varieties – specific
power and control, as the minority languages even to areas as small as villages or parishes.
were a clear symbol of local and regional This meant that there were hundreds of
identities. Thus social and political prejudices varieties which differed from the emerging
contributed to the view that minority languages Parisian standard and as such were regarded
were not helpful to France’s national unity and, with low opinion, just as completely different
in particular circumstances, were even seen as autochthonous languages such as Basque or
a threat to it. Breton were.
Photo by Zach Dyson on Unsplash
36 | ZESENDERTIG
In fact, French linguist Jules Marouzeau even went as

far as saying that the local patois dialects, small
varieties spoken in individual parishes, were the
languages of people “whose civilisation is inferior to
the one of the common language”. This clearly shows
prejudice in Paris – France’s cultural, political, and
linguistic centre – against regional varieties of French
which differed from the Parisian norm and therefore it
can be assumed to an even greater extent against
distinct minority languages as they were naturally
more different than any variety of French.
Interestingly, many of the autochthonous languages
and minority varieties of French are spoken in regions
on the very edge of France; Breton, Basque, Occitan
and Alsatian are spoken on France’s borders with the
Atlantic, Spain, and Germany respectively. Indeed,
many speakers of such languages, especially Basque,
would consider themselves to be part of a separate
nation to France. This geographical remoteness from
Paris could perhaps have contributed to the prejudice
against the languages of these regions.

Well-established prejudice against minority languages
and regional varieties may have contributed to laws
which set French as the standard language for the
whole country, supporting the early nationalistic
ideology of ‘one nation united under one language’.
One of the most important pieces of legislation in the
history of French as a language is the Edict of Villiers-
Cotterêts, a document written in 1539 which declared
that the language of law and administration was to be
French and only French. It’s possible that its aim was
more toppling Latin from its prestigious role in
written documentation than establishing French as the
written language, but either way this edict had
devastating consequences on the use of non-French
varieties. Because of this new legislation they could no
longer be used in official written circumstances and
were relegated to the less prestigious and much less
permanent realm of speech.
The Edict of Villers-Cotterêts actually took less than

20 years to be implemented, so perhaps the speed of
its introduction is a reflection of the prejudices against
local varieties of French and other minority languages
which already existed. While its exact goal is
debatable, the edict was a step towards a monolingual
nation at the expense of minority languages. From this
point on, we could argue that emphasis was placed on
getting rid of all languages other than standard French
in order to unite the country under this one language.
Photo by Robin Benzrihem on Unsplash
37 | ZEVENENDERTIG
The idea that minority languages might in some way

hinder national unity in France continued into two of
the most important eras which shaped modern
France; the Revolution of 1789 and the Nazi occupation
of France lasting from 1940 until 1944. The Revolution
can be seen as the birth of modern nationalism in
some ways, as one of its aims was to unite the French
people into a self-governed nation, as independent as
possible from their old monarchy and the outside
world. One of the Revolutionaries’ goals was to be able
to communicate this ideology with the entire
population and in order to do so it was vital that all
citizens of France were able to speak and understand
standard French. It is no coincidence then that
universal primary education was introduced at this
time by Bertrand Barère, and that the language of
instruction in this new system had to be French. This
meant that both regional languages and rural non-
standard varieties of French were to be suppressed in
order to raise a generation of young people who could
all communicate in the language of their nation:
French.
The Revolution also had a profound impact on the

French language thanks to the creation of a
revolutionary dictionary to record all the new words
from this unprecedented time of great societal
change. Another step in Haugen’s model of language
standardisation is codification (which essentially
means writing down the accepted forms of the
standard language) so this dictionary was very helpful
for standard French, and it was then adopted by the
infamous Academie Française. Finally, in the new
constitution created in the aftermath of the
Revolution, it is explicitly clear that “French is the
language of the Republic”. Thus the language policies
of the Revolution enforced the ideology that one
nation is united by one language, and the existence of
any other languages will weaken this nation.
In contrast, language policy during the Nazi

occupation of France actively encouraged the use of
regional languages. It is no surprise to learn that the
Nazis were not motivated by a celebration of diversity;
it is important to realise that the Nazis had, rather
unsurprisingly, very different goals for the French
nation than the Revolutionaries. While the
Revolutionaries aimed to unite France, the goal of the
Occupation was to divide France and make it easier to
conquer and control. There was, for instance, a
Breton language press, which was used primarily for
Photo by Robin Benzrihem on Unsplash
38 | ACHTENDERTIG
Photo by Reuben Mcfeeters on Unsplash
for the publication of Nazi-approved news. By encouraging use of minority languages, the occupying Nazi
leaders aimed to exploit any differences that may have existed within France and by doing so weaken the
country. While their policies were very different, the ideology behind these two eras was the same; one
national language leads to a stronger, more united country.
In contrast, language policy during the Nazi occupation of France actively encouraged the use of regional
languages. It is no surprise to learn that the Nazis were not motivated by a celebration of diversity; it is
important to realise that the Nazis had, rather unsurprisingly, very different goals for the French nation
than the Revolutionaries. While the Revolutionaries aimed to unite France, the goal of the Occupation was
to divide France and make it easier to conquer and control. There was, for instance, a Breton language
press, which was used primarily for the publication of Nazi-approved news. By encouraging use of
minority languages, the occupying Nazi leaders aimed to exploit any differences that may have existed
within France and by doing so weaken the country. While their policies were very different, the ideology
behind these two eras was the same; one national language leads to a stronger, more united country.
When we look back at France’s past, we see that social prestige led to the selection of what is now standard
French, and two important periods of French history helped cement the idea that, to those in power,
minority languages or varieties were harmful to their idea of national unity. However, there is a new type
of minority language increasingly present in modern France – allochthonous minorities. These are
languages associated with more recent migrations, so in the case of France are Vietnamese, Turkish, and
more recently Arabic, among others bringing with them the diversity and vitality mentioned above. As we
look to the future, it will be very interesting to see how these languages and the people who speak them
will continue to contribute to France’s evolving idea of itself as a nation, especially as prejudice from
nationalistic, alt-right political parties increases.
39 | NEGENENDERTIG
Down Among
the
Dampwinkels
Photo by Ruvim Noga on Unsplash
BY EMMELINE BURDETT
In my previous column, I wrote about the Erasmus
programme, and about how it’s the only reason I
can speak Dutch, and the only reason I’ve ever Another similarity between Leuven and
lived in a foreign country. Despite this, it’s taken Maastricht is that both towns have their own
me over twenty years to find my way back there dialect: the Maastricht dialect is called
- or, not there exactly, but rather to the Mestreechs, and the dialect in Leuven is called
Netherlands’ even smaller neighbour, Belgium. Leuvens in Flemish, or, in dialect, Leives. So, the
Just before the coronavirus lock-down, I went to subject of this article will be that of the
Leuven, which is a town east of Brussels, in the differences between a language and a dialect.
province of Flemish Brabant. There are quite a I’d often wondered about this, partly because
few similarities between Leuven and Maastricht, when I went to Leuven, I noticed that the roads
one of which is that the university library of the leading off the main square had their names in
Catholic University of Leuven looks very like the standard Dutch, and then, above that, in Leives,
Old Government Building, which is one of the and also because I like a Scottish folk group
university buildings in Maastricht – though the called Old Blind Dogs, and there seems to be
Leuven university library is more ornate, with a some disagreement about whether the dialect
vaulted ceiling, both buildings are the same in which their songs are written constitutes a
shape, and have a tower in the same place. language.
40 | VEERTIG
A linguist called Max Weinreich said that ‘a that the Visit Maastricht’ Facebook page gives
language is a dialect with an army and a is:
navy’, and the reverse is also true – the
insistence that a dialect is actually a

‘In dezen tied is ederein bezeg mèt ‘ne vörm vaan
language is often motivated by political chariteit’
ideology, and so we could say that,
This sentence is in Mestreechs, and its English
sometimes, a dialect’s supporters may be
translation is
trying to get an army and a navy for it by
claiming that it is a language. A dialect is a

‘Nowadays everyone’s involved in some kind of
regional variation of a specific language,
and knowing the language that it is based on

charity work’.
helps you understand it, no matter how
When we see the same sentence in standard
peculiar it might look at first glance. For
Dutch, however, it becomes clear how the main
example, let’s take a look at the word for
difference between the Mestreechs sentence,
‘bread’, firstly in the Dutch language itself,
and the same sentence in standard Dutch, is the
and then in the Dutch dialects Mestreechs
spelling:
and Leivis. In Dutch, the word ‘bread’ is
‘brood’, and the same word in Mestreechs is
‘broed’. In Leivis, it is ‘bruuëd’. The Leivis word ‘‘In deze tijd is iedereen bezig met een vorm van
in particular looks daunting, because of the liefdadigheid’.
two ‘u’s followed by the ‘ë’, but despite the
way it looks, it is quite easy to guess what it

So, just as the Leivis word for ‘bread’ might
means, especially if you have a bit of context
have looked rather intimidating, but on closer
(such as standing in the middle of a bakery,
inspection proved to be actually quite
for example!).
approachable, so it pays to look at dialect
sentences to see if the standard language of

But instead of just individual words, it’s more
the country can help you to understand what
than likely that you’ll encounter sentences or
is going on. Of course, things won’t always
phrases which you need to understand, and
be quite this easy, as many dialect words are
knowledge of the standard language of the
simply going to be different from words in
country you’re in can help you out here as
the standard language of the country (like
well. The Facebook page ‘Visit Maastricht’ is
‘chariteit’ versus ‘leefdadigheid’), and,
written in standard Dutch, but has a little
though you will just have to learn what those
section called ‘Dialect op Dinsdag’ (‘Dialect
differences are, looking at the rest of the
on Tuesday’), in which they teach you a word
sentence, and trying to understand it, can
from the Mestreechs dialect, show you how
still help you quite a bit. There is, though, the
to pronounce it, and how to use it in a
added problem that both Dutch and its
sentence. One of the recent ones focused on
dialects contain lots of idioms, so you might
the Mestreechs word ‘chariteit’. Though this
end up having to think laterally as well!
means ‘charity’ (and as such is probably
easier for an English speaker to guess than
the corresponding Dutch word
‘leefdadigheid’), you can really see how
useful standard Dutch is when you come to
use the word in a sentence. The example
41 | EENENVEERTIG
This is also the case for dialects within the
linguistic continuum descended from Anglo-
Saxon. For example, I said above that I liked a
Scottish folk group called Old Blind Dogs.
Their songs are written in a mix of English and
Scots. Scots is a language which evolved
alongside English and so has a high level of
mutual intelligibility. Most, if not all, of their
songs are written in a specific Scots dialect,
Doric. It is probably easiest to think of Doric as
a dialect within the larger linguistic community
rather than just within Scots as the dividing
line between English and Scots is more
political than linguistic – e.g. some dialects of
English spoken in the north might be closer to
standard Scots than standard English, and
most Scots speakers will code-switch into
English for formal situations.
Some of Old Blind Dog's songs are several Like the example of the Mestreechs sentence
centuries old, while others are written by the above, which differs from standard Dutch
band themselves. Nevertheless, what they mainly because of the way the words are
have in common is that an English speaker can spelt, this verse from ‘The Battle of Waterloo’ is
probably understand what the song is about, quite easy to understand for someone with no
but not make out every single word, and a knowledge of Doric to understand. For
Scots speaker, of another dialect, would only example, ‘doon’ is ‘down’, and ‘aye’ is always.
find the occasional word that seems odd. For ‘Dee’ is ‘die’. ‘Boney’ has nothing to do with
example, Jim Malcolm, who was the band’s Doric, but is a well-known nickname for the
lead singer until he left to concentrate on his French leader Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 –
family and his solo career, wrote a song called 1821) whose forces were finally defeated at
‘Battle of Waterloo’, which is about the last the Battle of Waterloo. An English translation
moments of a Scottish soldier fatally wounded would be:
at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
‘Jeanie, oh Jeanie, I am surely done

One of the verses goes like this: Stricken down in battle at the mouth of Boney’s
guns;
‘Jeanie, oh Jeanie, I am surely done Jeanie, oh Jeanie, always so dear to me
Stricken doon in battle at the mooth o’ Boney’s Let me hold you in my mind before I die’.
guns; Oh, and ‘dampwinkels’ is Dutch for ‘vape
Jeanie, oh Jeanie, aye sae dear tae me shops’. There seemed to be a number of them
Let me hold ye in my mind afore I dee’. in Leuven.
42 | TWEEËNVEERTIG
STRUCTURES OF
Terms of Endearment
HYPOCORISM IN
andFRENCH
Pet Names
By Valentin Pradelou
In any language, there are forms of surnames, pet names, nicknames and so
on. These different ways of talking about somebody, or something, can have
multiples goals. Among all these goals, there is a particular form, called
hypocorism or hypocoristicon.

These kind of names are used to convey love, kindness, gentleness and so on.
But what do all these names consist of?

There are multiple ways to use hypocorism. For example, a sentence like “Do
your toothy pegs hurt?” said to a child could be considered a hypocorism by
using “toothy peg” and thus conveying some sort of a gentleness. This can
happen to first names as well: there are numerous examples of stabilized
hypocorisms, like “Bob” for “Robert”.

That is what we are going to see in this article. On a phonological plan, we will
try to explain the phenomena occurring in the hypocorism's structures. This
study will only be based on French examples, and concerning anthroponyms
(individual’s names). We will go through the different structures used in
French in order to create hypocorisms.
43 | DRIEËNVEERTIG
ADDING A
SUFFIX:
First, there is a way to create hypocoristical names

remaining really straightforward. It actually consists in
adding a suffix at the end of the name. For example: Gilles
pronunced /ʒil/, will have a suffix added to create Gillet
pronunced /ʒile/. Another example could be the name Anne
pronunced /an/ on which is stuck the suffix ette: /anɛt/, or
adding an –o at the end of Paul, pronunced /pɔl/, to create
Paulo, /polo/.
These two examples, and furthermore most of the examples

of adding a simple suffix remain old, and pragmatically not
used nowadays. As a clear example of their outmoded
feature, we could say that some of the hypocoristic
examples using only a suffix have entered the French
name’s dictionary. For example, Charlotte is a hypocoristic
form coming from Charles, and is now used as a regular
name. However, there are only few examples of creating a
hypocoristic form by simply adding a suffix.
APHERESIS:
The second way of creating a hypocoristic

consists in using the apheresis. This notion
refers to the loss of some sounds, or
phonemes at the beginning of the word.
Thus, we could have the name Antoine, which

becomes Toine pronounced /twan/, or Cécilia
becoming Cilia, pronounced /silja/.
Let’s focus on something else: the apheresis

can even be combined with other techniques
in order to create a hypocoristic form. For
example, Bérénice will first become Nice, then
Nicette pronounced /niset/ by adding a suffix
as described just before.
44 | VIERENVEERTIG
APOCOPE:
Until here, we went through two ways to create hypocoristic forms, but these were sort of
outmoded. Here, the apocope is very used with modern names. First, an apocope is the cutting
of some sounds or phonemes form the end of a word.
Second, according to Plénat and Roché (2003), the optimal word in French would be made of
two syllables. It does be an important thing as it kind of rules the creation of a hypocoristicon.
Third, Scullen (1993) claims, concerning abbreviations in French, that there is a filtre de bonne
formation (“Good formation filter”), which constrains the phonology to follow the binary model.
Fourth, each phoneme is supposed to have an expressive value explain how and why it is kept
or not in the hypocoristic form. Hence, Grammont said that /u/ would be expressing some irony,
or would commiserate with the partner. Then, /a/ would be related to some hate, or even some
scorn.
For example, Sébastien will give Seb after the apocope as the /a/ doesn’t have the appropriate
expressive value for hypocoristic. The expressive value actually goes before the two syllables.
A canonic example following all the previous rules would Domi pronounced /domi/, coming from
Dominique, where the hypocoristic follows the binary scheme.
HYPOCORISTIC
ON HYPHENATED
APOCOPE AND FIRST NAMES:
RESUFFIXATION:
There are a lot of hyphenated names in

Another way to create hypocoristic in
French. There are thus several ways to
French goes with an apocope, combined
create a hypocoristic form through these.
with a suffix added to this new form.
First, Jan Lazar notes that the first

Thus, for Catherine, we will have Cathy
syllables of each name are most of the
pronounced /kati/, with –erine cut, and –y
time kept in the surname, combined with
added. It’s the same for Suzanne, making
an apocope. Hence, we’ll have, from
Suzi, pronounced /suzi/.
Marie-Thérèse, Marité or Marijo for Marie-
Josèphe. There is one (weird) example of
Here, we can spot some closeness with
a hypocoristicon not using the first
English speaking surnames, as
syllable in the second name, in Manique
“Catherine” in English will become Kate,
derived from Marie-Dominique. However,
Katy, Katie, etc. only making a difference
most of the examples of surnames based
with the French examples coming from
on hyphenated names are based on the
both orthograph and pronunciation.
first model.
45 | VIJFENVEERTIG
DOUBLING
HYPOCORISTICON:
There is a last way to express surnames in French, by doubling in the verbal forms of names.
Actually, these forms are under the largest scope of studies.
Let’s first give a definition of an onset and a rime. Most of the time, an onset is the first
consonant starting a syllable, and the rime will be the vowel coming then, which could be
combined with another phonemes. First, most of the doubling forms consist in the first rime and
the first onset of the name, as in Thomas, pronounced /toma/, going with Toto, /toto/, or with two
followed elements keeping their order: Bébert for Robert.
One important element, most of the onsets on doubling hypocoristic do have an origin in the
normal name. The second element taken into account would be the expressivity of each vowel.
We’ve seen earlier that Grammont claimed /u/ would be expressing some irony, or would
commiserate with the interlocutor. Then, /a/ would be related to some hate, or even some
disdain. The outcome of this theoretical point is the following: /y/ and /u/ would be chosen first in
the creation of hypocoristic; followed by /i/ and /o/. The last chosen vowel would by thus /a/, by
its kind of wrong expressivity, as we’ve seen earlier.
Let’s give some examples. Fatima will give Fifi dodging the “a” in the calling name; Gérard could
give Jojo once again using the “o” instead of the “e” or the “a”, because of their bad expressivity.
CONCLUSION:
In this article, I have wanted to show some ways to create

hypocoristic forms of names in French. The different theoretical
works state 6 different ways, as I have tried to explain.
This was not exhaustive, as they are other ways, as much as

there are other rules involved in this creation, especially for the
doubling hypocoristic forms. The doubling hypocoristic forms
are under a large scope of studies, especially in the Optimality
theory. This last theory is “proposing that the observed forms of
language arise from the optimal satisfaction of conflicting
constraints”.
Thanks for reading!
46 | ZESENVEERTIG
Dispatches from Linguists:
FRENCH
LESSONS
BY AISLA MCARTHUR
Photo by Taylor Wilcox on Unsplash
47 | ZEVENENVEERTIG
This month's dispatch is from France, as Aisla McArthur recounts her

time teaching English to French school children and what she learnt.
One of my great fears on returning from a year English in Italy when she was my age, can recount
spent in France is becoming one of those year endless stories of mispronunciations, such as the
abroad students who begins every sentence with student who called Princess Margaret a ‘dyke’,
‘well, when I was on my year abroad…’ or ‘when I rather than a duchess.
lived in France…’. However, I think in this article, it
is inevitable. So, I apologise in advance. While the students’ pronunciation made me
laugh, mine also cracked them up. I thought I had
I spent this past academic year in France, as you a good English accent, given that I grew up in
may have gathered. I took part in the British London, but one word always made them giggle.
Council Assistantship programme and worked as They found it hilarious when I asked them to
an English language assistant in a secondary distribute the ‘sheets’. It took me a moment to
school. While I was disappointed to discover I figure out why they were laughing… and then it
would be working in a small town of 5000 clicked. An ‘i’ in French is pronounced as ‘ee’. They
residents, in reality I was able to live in the centre actually thought I was asking them to hand out
of Lyon, so the year started well – once I finally the ‘shits’, as that is how they pronounce it. From
found an apartment after staying with the PE then on, I made a conscious effort to offer them a
teacher for a month. ‘page’ of activities instead. Frankly, Netflix and
American rap music had already taught the
I wasn’t fully prepared to work with children when students enough bad language, so my attempts to
I arrived. The main reason being that I had next to avoid swear words were somewhat superfluous.
no experience in teaching and had received no Just ask one of my youngest students, who told
training. You might ask yourself how I got the job. his classmate to “shut the fuck up, you
As it turns out, it did not require much motherf**king bitch”. It’s hard to stay angry when
preparation and was not quite as formal as I had you’re actually impressed with their accent and
expected. On my first day of work, I was in fits of use of adjectives.
laughter within the first twenty minutes.
Not only did the mispronunciations of French
I had been asked to introduce myself and tell the students brighten my day, but their gullibility
students a little about my life, like where I am always put a smile on my face. In each class, a
from and what I like to do in my free time. When student asked me if I had ever met the Queen.
asked to repeat some of the information, a young With the older students I simply asked if they had
girl confidently announced, ‘she love cock’. I could ever met their President, Emmanuel Macron,
not quite figure out how she had discerned that making them realise what a ridiculous question it
from what I said. I had actually told her that I love was. However, with the 6ème and 5ème
cooking, but I appreciated her spin on my (equivalent to year 7 and 8), I somehow made
favourite pastime. My mother, who taught them believe that I am a princess of the United
48 | ACHTENVEERTIG
Kingdom. Not in line to the throne – that would with me. They were not all bad though. Despite
be too risky a lie – but perhaps a lesser known my attempts to appear nonchalant and to act as if
cousin of the Windsor family. A child’s innocence I did not care what the students thought of me,
really does warm the heart. there were some really heart-warming moments.
Moments where it seemed I was really getting
I only have twenty years old, as my students through to the kids and making a connection with
would say, (I never said I was a good English them. The best example of this is the group of
teacher). Given my youth, it can be difficult to girls who asked me to be their friend. I said ‘sure’
demand respect from people only five years my in a hesitant tone before retreating back into my
junior. Moreover, they call be my first name, or classroom to immediately text all my friends and
the name I will now be using: ‘Mrs Teacher family to tell them what had happened. Is it sad to
Assistant’. This combines to create a somewhat be excited when teenagers ask you to be their
combative teaching environment. Some great friend? Very possibly, but I think that anyone
advice I received from a colleague was not to would be touched by that. I did not go to their
smile. I was terrified when I saw him teach – and houses for slumber parties or play-dates, but it
I’m not even a student – so I took his advice meant a lot all the same.
willingly. Thus, I wipe the smile from my face as I
enter room 117 each day. That does not come The thing that shines through for me, beyond all
naturally to me, but I try my best to maintain a the frustration and yelling, is the sheer goodness
stern, unfriendly face in the classroom. However, I of children. In fact, although a select few students
think this makes me look more sad and were a little uninterested, and some were
frustrated, than angry, earning me the nickname intentionally annoying, I felt welcomed in the
(of sorts) of ‘la pauvre’, which roughly translates to school. Towards the end of the year, everyone
‘poor thing’. relaxed into the lessons more and were even
willing to make fools of themselves. If you have
Well, you have to turn your weaknesses into your never heard a Frenchman attempt to say ‘Peter
strengths. So, although I was rather useless at Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers’, I would
disciplining students, I had some upstanding find one quickly. You will not regret it.
children to perform citizens arrests on my behalf.
Although it was irritating not being able to control My overall experience of working as an English
the class on my own, it meant that I didn’t even language assistant was fantastic - not enough to
have to lift a finger to keep the children in line. Or make me want to become a teacher, but I will
raise my voice, I should say, as I don’t think certainly look back on that time spent in France
corporal punishment is permitted, even in France. fondly. And, despite my objections, I will definitely
be starting a few sentences with ‘on my year
I know I have complained a bit about my students, abroad’.
but I don’t have a diary in which to vent, so bear
What’s
49 | NEGENENVEERTIG
Your
Pronoun?
A Review
By Holly Gustafson
“Take a guess: when do you think the first gender-neutral third-person

singular pronoun was coined?” I asked my husband, as I was reading Dennis
Baron’s newly published book, What’s Your Pronoun? Beyond He & She.

“I don’t know… the 60’s?” my husband replied.
It’s a reasonable guess, but he’s off by nearly two centuries. The very first
innovative gender-neutral pronoun, invented to replace he, she, and it, and
provide English speakers with a non-masculine, non-feminine, but still
animate pronoun, appears in 1789 (it was the pronoun ou, borrowed from
the Gloucester dialect). Over the next two hundred and thirty years, two
hundred more pronouns would be invented to fill the gender-neutral gap in
the English pronominal system, ranging from E/Es/Em (1841), to
hesh/himer/hiser (1922), to ze/hir (2010). Baron’s book explores the history,
politics, and problems of third-person pronouns, all the while exploring the
“hunt for the missing word”: the gender-neutral third-person singular
pronoun.
50 | VIJFTIG
Besides providing a complete chronology of each and every one of those two
hundred coined gender-neutral pronouns, from 1770 to present, Baron also
provides a multitude of reasons why not a single one of those pronouns (which
he calls “the words that failed”) stuck. For most of those pronominal inventions,
the problem was that they simply never reached a wide enough audience to
bring them into common usage. Many looked strange enough on the page (like
xe/xen/xes or heesh/hizzer/himmer), sounded foreign enough to the ear (like
that’n/they’n or po/xe/jhe), or had spellings complicated enough to decode
and pronounce (like zyhe/zyhe’s/zyhem or þe/im/ir(s)) that they simply didn’t
take off. But Baron presents another, more recent reason why even the newest
pronoun suggestions simply haven’t – and won’t – work: “Focusing on a gender
issue may distract from other aspects of a speaker’s message, especially if
nothing else in the message is gender-related,” suggests Baron, of the latest
innovative pronouns that seek to express not only a gender-neutral subject or
object, but also one that may identify as trans, non-binary, or gender non-
conforming. “Sometimes… language politics can shut down the possibility of
discourse and defeat the aim of communication.” In other words, sometimes a
pronoun simply needs to be neutral.
Clearly, one of the main problems with choosing, from the wide variety of
suggestions, a single gender-neutral pronoun for all English speakers to
embrace and integrate into their own speech, is just that: the wide variety.
There are simply “too many choices,” says Baron, “with no clear mechanism for
selecting a finalist, or even a short list of best options.”
But here’s the biggest problem with making up new pronouns, and then
somehow (either legislatively or socially) mandating their use: as Baron puts it,
“people use the pronouns they like, not the ones they’re told to use.” Legislation,
grammar book revisions, and dictionary endorsements do little to change the
way speakers actually speak. “Language changes when enough people use a
word of their own accord, not because of science, religion, a rule book, a
YouTube video, or an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal,” says Baron, echoing
author Charles Eliot Norton, who said (way back in 1884), “such a pronoun
would undoubtedly be a convenience, did it exist. The difficulty lies in its being
yours.”
Despite the obvious failure of hundreds of attempts to coin a new gender-

neutral pronoun and incorporate it into the English language, there is hope. It
turns out, “the missing word” has been hiding in plain site all along: the missing
word is they.
51 | EENENVIJFTIG
The third person pronoun they has been in use in the singular form for quite
some time now – at least 645 years to be exact. The Old English Dictionary
traces the use of singular they to 1375 (which means it had likely already been
in the spoken vernacular many years before that). It was a favourite of authors
who wanted to disguise the gender of a character, or at least not let gender
become a distraction; Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickenson, and
William Shakespeare, to name a few, all utilized the singular they in their
writings. In 1794, The Medley, or New Bedford Marine Journal suggested
singular they as a gender-neutral pronoun, suggesting that anyone who didn’t
like it was free to come up with a new one. In 1885, linguist Fred Newton Scott
noted its frequent use: “The word they is being used as a pronoun of the
common gender every day by millions of persons who are not particular about
their language, and every other day by several thousands who are particular.”
And the popularity of singular they has only grown over the centuries. In 2015,
the American Dialect Society declared singular they its Word-of-the-Year. Two
years later, a survey of non-binary/genderqueer pronoun use found that a full
80% of the nearly 10,000 participants selected they as their pronoun of choice.
As Baron puts it, “it turns out that the missing word isn’t missing after all.”
The adoption of they as a third-person singular gender-neutral pronoun has

two main advantages (the only disadvantage being that “it drives the grammar
sticklers nuts”). The first is that instead of inventing an unfamiliar pronoun and
releasing it to English speakers, who are then free, as language speakers are, to
accept or reject it, acknowledging singular they simply normalizes – and
legitimizes – what people are already saying.
The second advantage to they is Its
universality. Singular they is used
consistently by people who could care less
about grammatical matters like number
agreement, and unconsciously by those who
do. And, as Baron points out, they is used by
those who “want to make a point about the
politics of gender, and it’s used as well by
those who don’t care about those issues.”
Everybody’s already using they as the long
sought-after, ever-illusive gender-neutral
third-person singular pronoun. And if the
average English speaker is already using it,
we ought to just let them.
- Baron, Dennis. (2020) What’s Your Pronoun?: Beyond He & She. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
THANKS FOR READING SILLY
LINGUISTICS ISSUE #24
We hope you
enjoyed it!
Send any questions or comments you might
have to magazine@sillylinguistics.com
Do also get in touch if you fancy writing for us!
Check out Steve the Vagabond on Facebook at:
facebook.com/stevethevagabond,
also check out Silly Linguistics online at:
Sillylinguistics.com
Silly Linguistics Magazine was brought to you by,
Silly Linguistics Pty Ltd.
Editor: Ed Bedford
Graphic Designer: Kristel Ho
Photo by United Nations COVID-19 Response on Unsplash

Issue #24

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Issue #24

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SILLY LINGUISTICS THE MAGAZINE FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS

THE MAGAZINE FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS : ISSUE #24 : MAY 2020

CAN A NEW LANGUAGE 46

Ok, so let me start by saying, my intention was to write an article

Following on from the first instalment in the March

Photo by Laika Notebooks on Unsplash

I sat upright in a strange chair that resembled an old Barber. I

He returned in less than two seconds with a syringe of Lidocaine

I glanced at mom and we shared this thought: I’m getting an

Photo by Esther Driehaus on Unsplash

Instead of growing morose, I started to think about my own voice.

In another promising thought, I remembered that most cars have

Surgery Day. Bring on losing my voice.

drew on my throat near the voice box. They will be by to collect

Angelic-looking surgeons swept me away with kindness toward

Photo by Megan Bagshaw on Unsplash

1 Picture available on: < https://imgflip.com/meme/39176907/Grammar-police?sort=hot >.

It is also important to emphasize that Brazilian Portuguese differs from European

(3) This is the man that helps him

Proclysis with personal pronouns in the position of direct object cannot be

For part one see last month's issue.

People Persons and Other Persons

Do Non-People Persons Have Rights?

The United States

The two most famous, or infamous, U.S.

Keep an eye out in the next few issues for

I t was Charlemagne who said, “To have a second language is to

American linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf modernized this discussion.

German and Spanish speakers to

describe a key (Schlüssel a masculine

word in German and llave, a feminine

topic. In this era of political correctness, masculine word in Spanish). An

one should not assume someone’s overwhelming number of speakers of

associate professor at UCSD, studies the assigning gender to a noun shapes

Photo by Bryan Garces on Unsplash

Is this necessarily a bad thing? Should we

for a truly gender-neutral language, since it

all, language is used for communication, so

feminine. For example, amigo and amiga

Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash

people use it. sentences like haya kan khatula, in which

haya’s gender doesn’t match khatula. Is

languages like Hebrew? We might be on our grammatical genders, or are we simply

because all Hebrew speakers care about this

gender-neutrality, at least in Hebrew, is by neutrality, studies have shown that in

possible to have grammatical genders in a use of gender-neutral terms like singular

neutral? I wrote about grammatical gender “generic” gender is masculine. Gendered

Hebrew has two pairs of second and third

merger is relevant to almost all speakers,

regardless of socio-economic status, age,

gender and education. In addition, Hebrew

has two sets of cardinal numbers (three, as

in three tables, is a cardinal number), one for

feminine nouns and one for masculine nouns.

Recently, the feminine form for cardinal

numbers has been replacing the masculine

form amongst many, but not all, speakers.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Photo by United Nations COVID-19 Response on Unsplash

here is no way to dissociate language and colonialism. I am writing this

There is also no way to address colonialism without spending some time

This type of language perpetually conditions us through language to associate

The same type of destruction of a group’s particular ethnic specificity happens

There is a very profound phenomenon at play in the aforementioned example,