form
|
masculine
|
feminine
|
neutral
|
subject
|
he
|
she
|
ze
|
object
|
him
|
her
|
zim
|
possessive adjective
|
his
|
her
|
zer
|
possessive pronoun
|
his
|
hers
|
zers
|
reflexive
|
himself
|
herself
|
zelf
|
singular noun
|
man
|
woman
|
zan
|
plural noun
|
men
|
women
|
zen
|
Gender-neutral singular personal pronouns. This is a topic that has interested me for a while. When writing, I either say "they" (which is grammatically wrong) or "he or she" (which is awkward and stops the flow), and I don't like either of them. So why is there not a gender-neutral singular pronoun that I can use to refer to an unspecified person? I have looked all over the internet and found that the most common one is "ze," which seems to be the most official non-official pronoun. However, this is not technically English, so I still cannot use it in formal writing. But then what can I use? Aside from being used to refer to a person whose gender is not know, it can also be used to refer to a person without a gender identity, which is becoming increasingly prominent in today's society. In the past, undisclosed people have commonly been referred to as "he," but this has become sexist, as many roles that were previously occupied by males are now largely shared by both, and vice versa. I think that as 2016 approaches, our English dictionary needs to evolve with society and add "ze." As a side note, I will be using it in my further blog posts (unless Mr. Yee specifically tells me not to...), so if you see it, this is why.
