In France New Gender-Neutral Pronouns Were Added To The Dictionary, Should Malta Do The Same?
In the French language, you will now be able to use new gender-neutral pronouns. The popular French Dictionary, known as ‘Le Petit Robert’ has taken the bold initiative to add new pronouns known as ‘iel’, which is a mixture of ‘Il’ and ‘Elle’ meaning “he” and “she” in French.
‘Iel’ is defined as a “personal subject pronoun of the third person singular and plural, used to refer to a person regardless of gender”.
This addition to the French language has raised concerns among certain French politicians, with comments such as “inclusive writing is not the future of the French language,” and “its authors are therefore militants of a cause that has nothing to do with France”.
While the wife of French president Bridgette Macron reacted enraged to the new pronouns, saying that “the French language is so beautiful and two pronouns are fine”.
Recently, MEP Cyrus Engerer is currently the only Maltese MEP to have listed his pronouns on his social media, with the deliberate message of inclusion and to promote the idea that one shouldn’t assume anyone’s gender.
Currently, in the English language there is the use of gender-neutral pronouns like “Ze” together with its variations, ‘zir’, ‘zem’ and ‘zeir’.
However, it isn’t included in the current Maltese dictionary, which uses ‘hu’ and ‘hi’. Maybe, the Maltese language could use a ‘hui’?
Can a new pronoun be the wave forward, particularly in a country that has been a trailblazer in civil liberties?
Comment below what you think?