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Ze hir flag 2

Ze/Hir flag by Rae Black[1]

Ze/Hir neopronouns are gender neutral pronouns. They're derived from the earlier “sie and hir,” as a less feminine alternative, since “sie” is German for “she”, and “hir” was a feminine pronoun in Middle English[2]. The current forms are still leaning on feminine, by using the same declensions as “she.” They can be used by anyone regardless of gender identity or expression.

How to Use[]

Case Pronoun Example
Nominative
Ze Ze went to the store
Accusative
Hir I met hir today
Pronominal Possessive
Hir Ze walked hir dog today
Predicative Possessive
Hirs If I need a phone my friend will let me borrow hirs
Reflexive
Hirself Ze had to drive hirself to school

Pronunciation[]

Case Pronoun Pronunciation
Nominative Ze Zee
Accusative Hir Hee-ir
Pronominal Possessive Hir Hee-ir
Predicative Possessive Hirs Hee-irz
Reflexive Hirself Hee-ir-self

History[]

There are examples of ze being used since 1864, becoming more popular in the 1980s or 1990s with growing use since[3]. Ze/hir is used in Caitlin Sullivan and Kate Bornstein’s book, Nearly Roadkill, published in 1996[4]. In 1997 Richard Creel proposed ze/zer/mer (taken from the last letter of him and first of her)[5]. He did not give the reflexive form.

Kate Bornstein created another version in the 1998 book My Gender Workbook. This version uses ze (sometimes zie or sie) and hir[6]. Hir has been used since the 1920s, such as by the newspaper The Sacremento Bee[7]. It has also been present online since at least the 1980s[8].

Flags[]

References[]

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/NonBinary/comments/cwx5uj/i_made_a_zehir_pride_flag/7
  2. citation needed
  3. Yuko, E. (2021, June 29). Beyond They/Them: What Are Neopronouns? Rolling Stone. https://web.archive.org/web/20211017151814/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/neopronouns-they-them-pronoun-alternative-1190069/
  4. Sullivan, C., & Bornstein, K. (1996). Nearly Roadkill. Serpent’s Tail.
  5. Creel, Richard (1997). "Ze, Zer, Mer". APA Newsletters. American Philosophical Association. https://web.archive.org/web/20060512060324/http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/archive/newsletters/v97n1/teaching/ze.asp
  6. Bornstein, K. (1998). My gender workbook : how to become a real man, a real woman, the real you, or something else entirely. Routledge. https://archive.org/details/mygenderworkbook00kate
  7. Waters, M. (2021, June 4). Where Gender-Neutral Pronouns Come From. The Atlantic. https://web.archive.org/web/20211020163932/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/06/gender-neutral-pronouns-arent-new/619092/
  8. https://groups.google.com/g/fa.sf-lovers/c/HTiZ7_xKlHI/m/vEG69AjYi7kJ
  9. https://www.reddit.com/r/NonBinary/comments/cwx5uj/i_made_a_zehir_pride_flag/7

See Also[]

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