See how the application of gender-neutral pronouns improves William Barnes, for instance:
WOAK HILL,
by William Barnes
When
sycamore leaves wer a-spreadèn
Green-ruddy
in hedges,
Bezide the
red doust o' the ridges,
A-dried at
Woak Hill;
I packed up
my goods all a sheenèn
Wi' long
years o' handlèn,
On dousty
red wheel ov a waggon,
To ride at
Woak Hill.
The brown
thatchen ruf o' the dwellèn,
I then wer
a-le{'a}vèn,
Had
shelter'd the sleek head o' Me{'a}ry,
My bride at
Woak Hill.
But now vor
zome years, zir light voot-vall
'S a-lost
vrom the vloorèn.
Too soon vor
my ja{'y} an' my childern,
Zie died at
Woak Hill.
But still I
do think that, in soul,
Zie do hover
about us;
To ho vor zir
motherless childern,
Zir pride at
Woak Hill.
Zoo--lest zie
should tell me hereafter
I stole off
'ithout zir,
An' left zir,
uncall'd at house-riddèn,
To bide at
Woak Hill--
I call'd zir
so fondly, wi' lippèns
All
soundless to others,
An' took zir
wi' a{'i}r-reachèn hand,
To my zide
at Woak Hill.
On the road
I did look round, a-talkèn
To light at
my shoulder,
An' then led
zir in at the doorway,
Miles wide
vrom Woak Hill.
An' that's
why vo'k thought, vor a season,
My mind wer
a-wandrèn
Wi' sorrow,
when I wer so sorely
A-tried at
Woak Hill.
But no; that
my Me{'a}ry mid never
Behold zirzelf
slighted,
I wanted to
think that I guided
My guide
vrom Woak Hill.
- adapted from the text found at https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/woak-hill/
__________________________________________
* But why do we distinguish between self and other? Another fruitful field for the university Bowdlerisers, perhaps.
** And then there's nationality!
Surely we are in the prigs' Promised Land.
Or California. maybe:
"California's New Transgender Regulations: What Employers Need to Know" -
I think it's all San Andrea's fault.
JD comments:
ReplyDeleteHow would that work in other languages?
The sun is masculine in French and in Spanish; le soleil, el sol, but it is feminine in German; die Sonne. French and Spanish nouns are all either masculine or feminine but in German there are three choices; der, die, das.
This could all get very complicated and confusing and that's before I even start trying to explain the Arabic way of doing things! Here's a quick guide just to help your brain to explode
http://arabic.speak7.com/arabic_pronouns.htm
Eastern languages are very, very different from European languages, they involve a different way of thinking.
Isn't this wonderful! LOL! Good job, Sackerson!
ReplyDeleteAlso you wrote **What about nationality.
That reminded me of the form I had to complete last week in order to have a routine eye test. Two sides filled with quite intrusive questions. I felt quite niggled by the time I got to filling in "Race/Ethnicity" so wrote "Human/Caucasian" I was inclined to leave it at simply "Human" but decided that if I did they might metaphorically spit in my soup and give me faulty lenses - which they did anyway!