Stop Fighting Language Evolution

Stop Fighting
Language Evolution

Singular ‘They’ is Here to Stay

Nicolette Jahn

Introduction

In recent years there have been strong arguments to use ‘they’ as a sex-indefinite singular pronoun, despite protests from grammarians who advocate for it being solely a plural form. Pronouns and the distinct way they are used have changed over the centuries—one example being ‘you’ as singular and plural from the singular form ‘thou’. Language changes, that is just the way it goes. There are alternatives to using ‘they’ in the singular form but this can lead to obscure phrasings or loss of the intended meaning.

The Nay-Sayers
and their History

When studying the history of pronouns in English, linguists Roger Brown and Albert Gilman focused on literary texts from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Brown and Gilman, however, suggest plays do not fully represent standard practice of the time due to their hyperbolic and selective terms for creative purposes.

The tradition among many grammarians is that there is no sex- indefinite singular pronoun and ‘he’ is the overwhelming argument for what should be used. The pronoun ‘they’ is argued to be only the plural form and ‘he or she’ is the correct, non-sexist approach to the situation. But then grammarians also say repeating that phrase in a paper is ‘clumsy’, ‘pedantic’ and ‘unnecessary’. Some take a conservative view, which is when they follow the rule of the grammarians and not the existing language pattern in front of them.

See our style guide page for more on the use of Gender Neutral Words.

Previous Terms Used as the Sex-Indefinite Singular Pronoun

One claim as to why the male pronoun is used to encompass all genders is because of an androcentric social order, which means that everyone is assumed a man unless it is proven otherwise. Now, isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard? This idea of the masculine gender being more worthy stems from Latin and Greek where adjectives and possessive pronouns must agree—meaning their grammatical gender must match the gender substantive that they are applied to. In English adjectives are not associated with any gender and therefore we have a lot more freedom, which also has given us all of this controversy.

By the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the notion of males being worthier than females was not as common—at least in terms of the sex-indefinite plural pronoun—but it was still very much ingrained in the language. Not only do these teachings come from an academic environment but also from daily interactions that influence how we express ourselves. If someone says, for example, ‘doctor’, ‘tradesman’ or sometimes even ‘God’, our brains often assume it refers to a male when the subject lacks any further description.

James McCawley expressed an intriguing position in his ‘Letter to the editor,’ featured in The New York Times Magazine in 1974, that argued using the phrase ‘he or she’ is sexist. McCawley claimed ‘he’ was an all-inclusive term referring to humans and by adding ‘or she’ it qualified females as not being human. This could be reinforced by the use of terms such as mankind or humans. McCawley found it disrespected the female population and therefore identified ‘he’ as the proper inclusive term.

Vagueness Issue

A very common argument against the singular ‘they’ is that the term is too vague and can leave the reader lost and confused. ‘They’ can be too broad and encompass too many people. Writers should ensure they write the clearest message possible to convey the correct information. This vagueness is sometimes exploited on purpose when dealing with an uncertain situation.

Example:

When the next prime minister takes office they will need to decide how to push the law forward.

That Australian needs to vote if they want to get their snag.

Using these plural pronouns in instances where the individual is unknown, and can be of any gender, the vagueness of ‘they’ invites the ease of the plural pronoun use. Since ‘they’ is encoded to mean more than one person it is not ideal, according to some grammarians, in the above instances because it refers to a group when the context refers to an individual. However, surely, there is no confusion in these instances as to who ‘they’ refers to.

Example:

When the next prime minister—George, Anita, Paul or Cheryl—takes office they will need to decide how to push the law forward.

Here it is possible that one may interpret ‘they’ to refer to all candidates needing to decide together. Less so today, because the singular ‘they’ has become more accepted. Additionally, the use of ‘or’ makes it quite clear it doesn’t refer to all of the candidates together.

The Evolution of Plural and Singular Possessive Pronouns

Recently the argument for the singular ‘they’ has strengthened because of the desire for inclusive language. There are other options floating around like ‘ze’ or ‘zir’ when trying not to specify a gender but those haven’t gained traction yet. The evolution of pronouns can be seen in the singular ‘you’ in place of ‘thou’ dating back to early modern English.

Some grammatical researchers speculated that this transition was influenced by French—and other European languages—that use the plural form in singular context as a sign of respect. For example, when speaking to a superior—whether by age, profession or status—it is polite to address them with the plural ‘you’, which in French is ‘vous’. By this theory we assume that typically people used ‘thou’ as the informal singular, ‘you’ as plural but also ‘you’ as the formal singular. This transformed to ‘you’ now meaning both singular and plural in modern English.

Supporting the
Singular Form

The arguments for the singular ‘they’ is not a modern development. Grammarians have argued the correct form for hundreds of years. Late seventeenth century grammarian, William Ward wrote:

‘He’ must represent a male; ‘she’ a female; and ‘it’ an object of no sex … But the plural “they” equally represents objects of all three genders; for a plural object may consist of singular objects, some of which are masculine, other feminine, and others neuter.

The shift of ‘they’ into a singular pronoun was making headway in 2015 when the Washington Post added it to their style guide along with its acceptance into Random House Dictionary and Fowler’s Modern English Usage. The singular ‘they’ was even voted the word of the year by the American Dialect Society. Even Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll and William Shakespeare ignored the fuss around the word and used the singular form long ago and their readers have not been confused.

A Feminist Stance

Language evolves and adapts to accommodate contemporary demands. Social structures have a significant impact on how languages change. One that feminists in recent decades are combatting is ‘he’ or any male variation that is meant to encompass all genders. A new term is then needed and what other than the singular ‘they’, which has been around for centuries regardless of its acceptance in academic circles. According to Chen and Wu, the singular ‘they’ avoids political correctness and issues of gender when the sentence involves a level of uncertainty.

The Power of Rephrasing

If not convinced by either side of this debate, it is possible to rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue. If the antecedent is rewritten as plural, the singular ‘they’ can be avoided.

Example:

You can tell a lot about a writer by the pen they use.

Vs:

You can tell a lot about writers by the pen they use.

Another solution is to eliminate the pronouns. This tactic can lengthen the sentences and not read as smoothly, so each case should be considered carefully.

Example:

You can tell a lot about a writer by the pen the writer uses.

In some situations, sentences can substitute the second person in place of the third person pronoun.

Example:

As a writer, the pen you use can tell a lot about you.

There is a risk when rephrasing a sentence by using any of the above examples. The tone and message a writer intends to convey could be compromised or lost in the process. A single formula cannot be applied to all texts and must be approached as a case-by-case decision.

“Be aware of who the reader is and make a decision that suits the tone and context of the piece.”

Conclusion and
Recommendations

If you are going to employ writers or assign written tasks, decide on a rule and put it in your style guide because your style guide will save everyone time. The writer can then continue writing and not hunt for the ‘correct’ answer.

Finally, be aware of who the reader is and make a decision that suits the tone and context of the piece. If using ‘they’ as the sex-indefinite singular pronoun suits the text best and it still communicates the message clearly, then that may be the best option.

For further insight on the topic of language evolution, refer to the essays Gender-inclusive language and From Middle to Modern.