Gender and language
How does language affect human conceptualization? An empirical test of linguistic relativity in five languages
The overarching aim of this project is to follow the ongoing linguistic change where numerous languages implement non-binary pronouns. This research project follows the implementation in several languages, over time, to explore how non-binary pronouns influence perceptions of gender as a (non-)binary construct.
Non-binary pronouns are a recent development to make language more gender-fair and inclusive. Even though referred to as non-binary, these pronouns often have a dual meaning: One non-binary meaning, referring to individuals with non-binary gender identities beyond the traditional binary genders women/men, and one generic meaning, referring to anyone despite gender. Swedish was the first language to add a non-binary pronoun, hen, to the official dictionary (SAOL, 2015). Since then, other languages have followed suit. In English, ze and singular they are the most common non-binary pronouns (Lindqvist et al., 2018). In French, there is a recent initiative to add the non-binary pronoun iel (Wagener, 2022).
A new personal pronoun impacts the whole language system because it changes how individuals are referred to in everyday communications (Paterson, 2014). Pronouns are among the most common words, used automatically. The view of pronouns as “function words” without meaning has changed, and today, third-person singular pronouns are seen as important gender identity markers (Hekanaho, 2020). This means that the implementation of non-binary pronouns constitutes a linguistic change challenging the construction of one of the most fundamental social categories – gender.
Common to all these initiatives is a strong resistance against them, as they challenge societal structures and deeply rooted identities related to the view of gender as a binary construct. The politicization of non-binary pronouns likely influences how they are received in terms of attitudes and use, as well as how they influence gender conceptualizations. Given that the pollicization is likely to decrease over time, attitudes, use, and consequences are also likely to change.
At the same time, some languages are genderless, only having gender-neutral third-person singular pronouns, such as Finnish hän and Turkish o. This project explores what consequences the grammatical pronoun structure has on gender conceptualization, both in genderless languages and in languages with new, non-binary pronouns. To reach the overarching aim, three research questions are guiding this research project:
1) How are new, non-binary pronouns received by language users in terms of attitudes toward them, and how do attitudes change over time?
2) How are new, non-binary pronouns being spontaneously used, and how does the use develop over time?
3) How do non-binary and genderless pronouns influence the conceptualization of gender as a binary construct, and how does this conceptualization change over time?
The current situation makes an excellent opportunity to answer these questions, as we face a natural experiment where several languages implement non-binary pronouns. So far, we have followed the implementation of Swedish hen since 2012. In this project, we also follow the implementation of non-binary pronouns in English (US) and French, as all these have reached different phases of the implementation. We take a long-term perspective on the implementation of non-binary pronouns, by exploring how attitudes, meaning and consequences change over time. As a baseline for comparisons, we also analyze genderless pronouns in Finnish and Turkish. This kind of overarching and global take, zooming in on one significant and global linguistic change, is to date unheard of and guarantees high-impact output. The research team consists of well-established scholars in psychology and linguistics, from five different countries, which makes us well equipped to reach the overall aim.
Funded by Vetenskapsrådet