INTERNATIONAL

PRONOUN DAY
With Cameron and Robin
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

What Are They? Historical Usage

01 Basics on English grammar and the 02 Where do pronouns come from?
role of pronouns What’s the history?

What Is They? Modern Usage

03 Side history on singular they 04 Where do pronouns go from here?
 01
What Are They?
How pronouns work as parts of speech
 YOUR STANDARD DEFINITION
Merriam Webster defines
pronouns as “any of a small set of
words (such as I, she, he, you, it,
we, or they) in a language that are
used as substitutes for nouns or
noun phrases and whose referents
are named or understood in the
context”.
Pronouns are commonly used in
terms of third person referral, that
usually being your standard
he/she/they/it/etc. But as defined
on the left, words like “I”, “it”,
and “we” are pronouns too!
Pronoun Usage Guide (with neopronouns!)

Image source: The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio

 Historical Usage
02 Oldest records on English pronouns and history
 Middle English
Old English

Current English
 03
What Is They?
Earliest record of singular they, and other notes
Singular “They”
The singular they shows up as early as
the 14th century, only a century after
the plural they. It’s been growing in
use to refer to non-binary and
genderqueer people.
 Singular They Has Been Around!
Each man hurried . . . till they drew near . . . where William and his
darling were lying together.

— from William and the Werewolf, 1375

Almost anyone under the circumstances would have doubted if [the letter]
were theirs, or indeed if they were themself."

— Emily Dickinson, 1881

So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if ye may not forgive each one
his brother from your hearts their trespasses.

— Matt. 18:35 of the Bible (Young’s Literal

Translation, 1898)
Sources: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/677177
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/singular-nonbinary-they
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003572.html
 Modern Usage
04 Neopronouns and more!
 Neopronouns
Definition
Neopronouns are options to refer to someone other than he, she,
or they. They’re preferred by non-binary people that feel like
they reflect their gender identity better.

Examples
It/Its, Xe/Xem, Ze/Hirm, Et/Eir, Ae/Aer, Ve/Ver

Conflict
Some cis and trans communities push back against
neopronouns. Cis people argue that they’re unfamiliar and
confusing, while trans people say that it makes the LGBTQ+
Community look like a joke.
 Neopronouns are helpful for
genderqueer people to find something
that was made for them.
"I like the gender neutral pronoun
'ze/hir' because it makes it impossible
to hold on to gender/sex/sexuality
assumptions about a person you're
about to meet or you've just met.”
— Transgender activist Leslie Feinberg
(Ze/Hir), 2006
 THANKS!
DO YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS?

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