Thread by @milnecals, linguistics + neopronouns - a thread that's way too long table of [...]

linguistics + neopronouns - a thread that's way too long

table of contents:
part one: intro
part two: what is linguistics?
part three: what are pronouns and what are neopronouns?
part four: jane austen, the singular they, and why it matters
part five: slang and subcommunities of language
part seven: finally it's over

intro:

neopronouns are a much debated subject within the lgbtq+ community especially, but on the internet in particular there is a lot of discourse on whether or not they are:
1. actually a thing
2. should actually be a thing
3. good for the community, not good, etc

another problem is whether or not they are grammatical and if the english language really NEEDS more pronouns, and, linguistically, if they'll ever catch on.
i'm going to be focusing much more on the latter aspect of neopronoun discourse, just because i'm not interested-

in talking about whether or not something is directly harmful to the lgbtq+ community or anything like that. it's not for me to say.

end intro

part 2: what is linguistics?

linguistics is, simply put, the study of language. not the study of a particular language, but the study of languages all together-- the ideas surrounding language, the way language moves and evolves (keep this in note for later),

the sounds we make, how our environment impacts our language (e.g. sociolinguistics-- a big one that's more prevalent now is AAVE vs standard enlgish)

an important thing to note about linguistics is it isn't your stereotypical english class-- linguists are not interested-

in telling you HOW to use english or any other language for that matter, we're interested in learning how you use language.

my linguistics prof. once said that linguistics is like physics and an english class is like a plumber--

linguists are interested in how gravity works and all that jazz, but a plumber is only interested in how to fix the thing-- both are using the same laws and the same rules, but one is only interested in the result.

sadly your english class is trying to hammer out-

whatever interesting accents or diversity or interest in how you use language and is interested in making you sound upper class.

linguistics though is interested in the diversity of language and is interested in learning about different dialects in speech, and doesn't judge it.

part 3: what are pronouns and what are neopronouns?

pronouns are, simply, a way to refer to someone without them being there. if you think about it, there's no OBJECTIVE assigned gender to these pronouns--

if there WERE we would all use she/her instead of also having "elle," "ella," etc in other languages. (think on that if it doesnt make sense)

*note: that's not to say there are not cultural genders assigned to pronouns, and that those aren't important to respect--

don't go around saying "gender is a social construct and is fucking stupid" just for fun bc gender AS a social construct can be important to many religions and cultures.

pronouns are used to describe gender, but do not prescribe it. pronouns =/= gender.

what are neopronouns??

neopronouns are just pronouns that people came up with instead of having been-

organized naturally. they're usually fairly recent, and often describe people with complicated relationships to gender and especially pronouns, (e.g. often coined by neurodivergent people, but are not exclusive to that group).

part four: jane austen and the singular they.

i don't know if you've noticed, but the singular they has been pretty hot button outside of the internet too-- recently my mom came to accept it after i told her jane austen used the singular they.

they isn't a new pronoun, and certainly isn't a new pronouns singularly either, but it's a new(ish) pronoun to refer to a person when you know the AGAB of them.

why the fuck did you make this thread longer by talking about the singular they, though, elkie?

glad u asked my love :D

the culture of language can change. let me repeat that: the culture of language can change. it has changed. we went from french + german to english. we went from old english to middle english to modern english.

we went from not accepting they/them as an individual's pronouns to most people accepting it. language evolves and it grows and if it isn't doing that it's dead or dying.

part five: slang and the subcommunities of language

you know how i talked about how if language isn't evolving it's dying? slang is an example of that-- "cool" was once slang and wasn't commonly used. if a language has slang that means it's growing and evolving.

it also means that, when we have subcommunities of language where language is used slightly differently (e.g. neopronouns) those quirks and diversities in language can easily make their way into standard english. (e.g. "cool" comes from older AAVE (jazz specifically)-

and we use it a lot today.) so, pronouns just being a part of language and twitter users speaking english having a subcommunity of the linguistic field to themselves, it's quite possible that neopronouns eventually become a part of the english language.

note: oh, and by the way, if anyone ever tells you you're "ruining the english language" by using text speak they're anti the english language, because they're against the english language evolving which is necessary for language to survive. english would be dead in their hands.

part seven: finally it's fucking over !!!!!!

linguistically i've shown that it's very very possible for english to adopt neopronouns. this doesn't settle, necessarily, other disputes around neopronouns, but it does disprove that neopronouns are "stupid" or "never gonna catch on"

i hope this thread cleared things up n i hope u like it!! feel free to ask me more questions !! :D

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