A bit of arrogance

Today I am assuming leadership (realizing that my chances are next to nil) in a cause that I have long endorsed. In these times of "political correctness" one of the accommodations that is definitely catching on, is inclusive language. English needs a neutral pronoun, desperately..."he" is no longer an acceptable substitute for "s/he", "he or she", "it" or "their" when a trans-gendered reference in pronoun form is needed. And, it borders on the ridiculous, when referring to a deity.Accordingly, whenever a gender-free pronoun is needed, I am suggesting "ke" (pronounced KAY) for the pronoun in nominative case, and "kira" (pronounced KEE-ruh) for the objective and possessive cases "him, her, his and hers" and pledge myself to use them henceforth whenever indicated, until someone suggests a better alternative. Of course, the traditional forms would be retained in the majority of cases where they suffice--males would still be "he" and females still "she." Remembering the "rule" is simple: When a non-gendered pronoun is desired, use "ke" instead of "he" and "kira" in place of "him" or "his." Thus for inclusive non-sexism, and theological use , as an example, I present my latest poem:
Divine Paradox

The greatest glory is the silent God
in kira wisdom meeting prayers without
a single answer, yet in kira grace
imparting breath to every soul in quest
of mystery.

Ke who would disagree might well recall,
ke cannot teach the one who knows it all.
There is no spark, no fire in what is done
to speed a victory already won.
A cosmic invitation to the dance
is life, a cosmic "yes" a fatal trance
imposed for every lethargy to come.
~

posted by Dean at 4:59 PM

Comments:
LolaMaria said...
First question: ~ what is the root of your new non-gender pronoun... is it Latin?second, ~ Did you know that there are genderless pronouns now being used?Quote:Depending on how one counts, there are between three and five groups using GNP's (gender neutral pronouns) actively on the Net. The two most popular seem to be "sie, hir, hir, hirs, hirself", (especially "hir"), and "zie, zir, zir, zirs, zirself". The latter apparently came into being after a German-speaking netizen objected to "sie" and "Sie", which in many contexts means "she" in German. Third and fourth, differing only in the first and maybe last word, are "e or ey, em, eir, eirs, eirself or emself". Fifth, some people use "per", from "person", which i assume has the set "per, per, pers, pers, persself", although i've never seen it developed that far. I've not actually seen this in use on the net, but i've seen people on the net who claimed to use it all the time in their own lives.For an excellent discussion of gender-neutral pronouns, see John Williams's site at GNP. Here's the link:http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/John's page is #1 of about 2,400 in its class, on Google searches. "Words and Women" by Casey Miller and Kate Smith is a great book about the genderless pronoun.
12:52 PM
Dean said...
To answer, the "root" is the process of elimination, not a particular other language. Contrary to most of the suggestions you refer me to, mine are simple, include the deity (whoever ke may be), use only two substitutes, and should be easy to remember. With respect to the discussion linked here, I'll put my own suggestions up as a better solution.
4:52 PM