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Old 07-27-2012, 03:18 PM   #65
QuantumIguana
Philosopher
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Some people think the language shouldn't bother with specifying the gender of the person with pronouns, that we whould just use something like a version of "it" that can be applied to a person rather than thing, instead of saying "he" or "she". Using "he" or "she" when the gender is known does convey information, some just think that is irrelevant information. But for whatever reason, it does matter to people, which is why "he" fails.

The boat has sailed on "they", like it or loathe it, it has already become widely accepted, opposing it is like holding back the tide. "They shook their head" is has a degree of ambiguity, but it may well be clear in contect. An alternative is to pick to new pronoun for a genderless person.

But how about an alien species with three sexes? Then you need a pronoun for a person who is not genderless, but of a gender not found on Earth. In that case, if the alien language cares about gender for pronouns, you could use the alien's pronoun for that third gender.
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