Neopronouns (new pronouns) are any set of singular third-person pronouns that were created or adapted within the language rathen then evolving with it. They are not officially recognized in any language they are used in. Many Indo-European languages frequently have gendered third-person pronouns and may not have a neutral option, or the neutral option may be considered "unethical" when used for a person; thus, neopronouns were born as a resolution.
In English, there are four sets of recognised pronouns; "she/her" is considered feminine, "he/him" is considered masculine, and "they/them" is used when describing more than one person. The fourth set, "it/its", which is typically used to refer to inanimate objects or animals (has historically been used to ridicule MOGAI individuals). It/its is also considered a neopronoun.
Some individuals prefer using neopronouns as an alternative to gender neutral pronouns set to singular use of they/them. This may be due to any of the following examples. They might:
- Want to avoid singular "they" being confused with plural "they".
- Find that neopronouns express something about them or their gender identity that they/them does not
- Feel more comfortable using neopronouns over they/them.
- Do not feel that the singular "they" fits them
- Do not like how they/them sounds when used to refer to them
- etc.
An individual's decision to use neopronouns is a personal one and differers person to person.
Some examples of neopronouns may be:
- Xe/Xem/Xyr/Xyrs/Xemself
- Ze/Hir/Hir/Hirs/Hirself
- Et/Eir/Eirs/Eirself
- Ae/Aer/Aer/Aers/Aerself
- Ve/Ver/Vis/Vis/Verself
For comparison:
- They/Them/Their/Theirs/Themself
- He/Him/His/His/Himself
- She/Her/Her/Hers/Herself
Some examples of how to use these neopronouns in different sentences:
- “She went to the store.” —> “Xe went to the store.”
- “Oh hey look, it’s him.” —> “Oh hey look, it’s hir.”
- “That’s their book.” —> “That’s eir book.”
- “That water bottle belongs to him, it’s his.” —> “That water bottle belongs to aer, it’s aers.”
- “She lifted it by herself.” —> “Ve lifted it by verself.”
Spanish[]
Neopronouns do exist in Spanish, namely Le/le and Ello/lo. Since Spanish has no accusative, the second "pronoun" mention is the article for words.
Spanish neopronouns:
- Le/Le/Elles/Les/Une/-e/Lu
- Ello/Lo/Ellos/Los/Uno/-/Su
For comparison:
- Él/El/Ellos/Los/Un/-o/Su
- Ella/La/Ellas/Las/Una/-a/Su