Gender neutral language in Polish: Difference between revisions
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==Pronouns== | ==Pronouns== | ||
In Polish there is no standard non-gendered pronoun like English's [[singular they]]. "Oni" is the third person plural masculine pronoun (used when a group has at least one male in it, or the genders of the group are unknown), while "one" is the third person plural non-masculine pronoun (used when a group has no male members, or for groups like young children, animals, objects, or intangible concepts).<ref name="cloz_Maki">{{Cite web |title=Making Sense of Polish Personal Pronouns |last=Łukasiak |first=Adam |work=Clozemaster Blog |date=20 October 2017 |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/polish-personal-pronouns/}}</ref> Translations of English singular they into Polish sometimes use "oni" despite it being masculine.<ref name="Misiek">{{cite journal|title=Misgendered in Translation?: Genderqueerness in Polish Translations of English-language Television Series |url=https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=207730|last=Misiek|first=Szymon |journal=Anglica: An International Journal of English Studies|year=2020 |doi=10.7311/0860-5734.29.2.09}}</ref> | In Polish there is no standard non-gendered pronoun like English's [[singular they]]. "Oni" is the third person plural masculine pronoun (used when a group has at least one male in it, or the genders of the group are unknown), while "one" is the third person plural non-masculine pronoun (used when a group has no male members, or for groups like young children, animals, objects, or intangible concepts).<ref name="cloz_Maki">{{Cite web |title=Making Sense of Polish Personal Pronouns |last=Łukasiak |first=Adam |work=Clozemaster Blog |date=20 October 2017 |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/polish-personal-pronouns/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612003004/https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/polish-personal-pronouns/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> Translations of English singular they into Polish sometimes use "oni" despite it being masculine.<ref name="Misiek">{{cite journal|title=Misgendered in Translation?: Genderqueerness in Polish Translations of English-language Television Series |url=https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=207730|last=Misiek|first=Szymon |journal=Anglica: An International Journal of English Studies|year=2020 |doi=10.7311/0860-5734.29.2.09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612015312/https://anglica-journal.com/resources/html/article/details?id=207730|archive-date=17 July 2023}}</ref> | ||
There is a neuter singular pronoun "ono/jego" but that can be considered dehumanizing, similar to "it/its" in English. | There is a neuter singular pronoun "ono/jego" but that can be considered dehumanizing, similar to "it/its" in English. | ||
Some Polish-speaking nonbinary people just use "he/his" ("on/jego") or "she/her" ("ona/jej") – either the same as their [[gender assigned at birth]] or the opposite.<ref name="zaimkipl">{{Cite web |title=An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns |trans-title= |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/english |language=en }}</ref> | Some Polish-speaking nonbinary people just use "he/his" ("on/jego") or "she/her" ("ona/jej") – either the same as their [[gender assigned at birth]] or the opposite.<ref name="zaimkipl">{{Cite web |title=An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns |trans-title= |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/english |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603042546/https://zaimki.pl/english |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> | ||
Some neopronoun forms have been proposed, such as<ref name="zaim_Skąd">{{Cite web |title=Skąd potrzeba niebinarnych zaimków? |trans-title=Where is the need for nonbinary pronouns? |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/ |language=pl}}</ref>: | Some neopronoun forms have been proposed, such as<ref name="zaim_Skąd">{{Cite web |title=Skąd potrzeba niebinarnych zaimków? |trans-title=Where is the need for nonbinary pronouns? |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/ |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307093417/https://zaimki.pl/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref>: | ||
* onu/jenu | * onu/jenu | ||
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For second-person pronouns, it is possible to use the mixed-gender plural "państwo" in place of masculine "pan" or feminine "pani", but using this in reference to a singular person is not well-established. | For second-person pronouns, it is possible to use the mixed-gender plural "państwo" in place of masculine "pan" or feminine "pani", but using this in reference to a singular person is not well-established. | ||
The reflexive pronoun "się" (equivalent to "myself", "herself", "himself", "one's self", etc.) does not inflect for gender.<ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Polish_pronouns#Reflexive_pronoun</ref> | The reflexive pronoun "się" (equivalent to "myself", "herself", "himself", "one's self", etc.) does not inflect for gender.<ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Polish_pronouns#Reflexive_pronoun [https://web.archive.org/web/20230612051812/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Polish_pronouns Archived] on 17 July 2023</ref> | ||
==Other words== | ==Other words== | ||
Nouns, verbs, numerals, and adjectives are also gendered in Polish. Some Polish nonbinary people create solutions such as gender-neutral word endings, for example "chciałxm"/"chciałom"/"chciałx" instead of "chciałem" (masculine) or "chciałam" (feminine).<ref>{{cite web|title=hi how to use they them in poland. próbuję ale im failing miserably|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=http://archive.is/ZMwts|url=https://urodziwy.tumblr.com/post/187175986471/hi-how-to-use-they-them-in-poland-pr%C3%B3buj%C4%99-ale-im}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Czemu ludzie są Twoim zdaniem dyskryminowani przez swoją orientację seksualną?|archive-url=http://archive.is/k4Xzj|archive-date=17 June 2020|url=https://ask.fm/brainlessxx/answers/162268935811}}</ref> In the 2004 science-fiction novel ''Perfect Imperfection'', author Jacek Dukaj used -um verb endings (e.g. "zobaczyłum" instead of the masculine "zobaczyłem" or feminine "zobaczyłam") for a "post-human" group of beings.<ref name="TransGrysy">{{Cite web |title=TransGrysy wyjaśniają: co robić, a czego nie robić w kontaktach z osobami transpłciowymi? |trans-title=TransGrysy explains: what to do and what not to do when dealing with transgender people? |work=kinkywinky.pl |date= |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://www.kinkywinky.pl/blog/poradnik/transplciowosc-savoir-vivre.html |language=pl}}</ref> These have since become known as Dukaisms.<ref name="zaimkipl">{{Cite web |title=An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns |trans-title= |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/english |language=en }}</ref> | Nouns, verbs, numerals, and adjectives are also gendered in Polish. Some Polish nonbinary people create solutions such as gender-neutral word endings, for example "chciałxm"/"chciałom"/"chciałx" instead of "chciałem" (masculine) or "chciałam" (feminine).<ref>{{cite web|title=hi how to use they them in poland. próbuję ale im failing miserably|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=http://archive.is/ZMwts|url=https://urodziwy.tumblr.com/post/187175986471/hi-how-to-use-they-them-in-poland-pr%C3%B3buj%C4%99-ale-im}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Czemu ludzie są Twoim zdaniem dyskryminowani przez swoją orientację seksualną?|archive-url=http://archive.is/k4Xzj|archive-date=17 June 2020|url=https://ask.fm/brainlessxx/answers/162268935811}}</ref> In the 2004 science-fiction novel ''Perfect Imperfection'', author Jacek Dukaj used -um verb endings (e.g. "zobaczyłum" instead of the masculine "zobaczyłem" or feminine "zobaczyłam") for a "post-human" group of beings.<ref name="TransGrysy">{{Cite web |title=TransGrysy wyjaśniają: co robić, a czego nie robić w kontaktach z osobami transpłciowymi? |trans-title=TransGrysy explains: what to do and what not to do when dealing with transgender people? |work=kinkywinky.pl |date= |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://www.kinkywinky.pl/blog/poradnik/transplciowosc-savoir-vivre.html |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623034945/https://www.kinkywinky.pl/blog/poradnik/transplciowosc-savoir-vivre.html |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> These have since become known as Dukaisms.<ref name="zaimkipl">{{Cite web |title=An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns |trans-title= |author= |work=Zaimki.pl |date= |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://zaimki.pl/english |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603042546/https://zaimki.pl/english |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> | ||
Another gender-neutral way of speaking or writing Polish is rewording phrases to use a non-gendered conjugation of a verb. For example, instead of saying "I saw" in the masculine form "zobaczyłem" or feminine form "zobaczyłam", one could say "Udało mi się zobaczyć" (I was able to see).<ref name="grabieżca">{{Cite web |title=Osoby niebinarne - jakiej są płci? |trans-title= |author=niski_grabieżca |work=transseksualizm.blogspot.com |date=12 June 2019 |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://transseksualizm.blogspot.com/2019/06/osoby-niebinarne-jakiej-sa-pci.html |language=pl}}</ref> | Another gender-neutral way of speaking or writing Polish is rewording phrases to use a non-gendered conjugation of a verb. For example, instead of saying "I saw" in the masculine form "zobaczyłem" or feminine form "zobaczyłam", one could say "Udało mi się zobaczyć" (I was able to see).<ref name="grabieżca">{{Cite web |title=Osoby niebinarne - jakiej są płci? |trans-title= |author=niski_grabieżca |work=transseksualizm.blogspot.com |date=12 June 2019 |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://transseksualizm.blogspot.com/2019/06/osoby-niebinarne-jakiej-sa-pci.html |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623022837/https://transseksualizm.blogspot.com/2019/06/osoby-niebinarne-jakiej-sa-pci.html |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> | ||
For written Polish, it is possible to combine the masculine and feminine forms of a noun, with a space in between the endings to acknowledge other genders. For example instead of the masculine "aktorzy" or the feminine "aktorki", one could write "aktorki_rzy".<ref name="123t_Gend">{{Cite web |title=Gender. Płeć w języku. Feminizm w języku polskim |trans-title=Gender. Gender in language. Feminism in Polish language |last=Tłumaczeń |first=Biuro |work=Ekspresowe tłumaczenia |date=11 December 2015 |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://123tlumacz.pl/gender-plec-w-jezyku-feminizm-w-jezyku-polskim/ |language=pl}}</ref> | For written Polish, it is possible to combine the masculine and feminine forms of a noun, with a space in between the endings to acknowledge other genders. For example instead of the masculine "aktorzy" or the feminine "aktorki", one could write "aktorki_rzy".<ref name="123t_Gend">{{Cite web |title=Gender. Płeć w języku. Feminizm w języku polskim |trans-title=Gender. Gender in language. Feminism in Polish language |last=Tłumaczeń |first=Biuro |work=Ekspresowe tłumaczenia |date=11 December 2015 |access-date=1 October 2020 |url= https://123tlumacz.pl/gender-plec-w-jezyku-feminizm-w-jezyku-polskim/ |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612005847/https://123tlumacz.pl/gender-plec-w-jezyku-feminizm-w-jezyku-polskim/ |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> | ||
Words can be de-gendered by using an -ę ending such as "autorzę" (instead of masc "autor" or fem "autorka") but this is not ideal because the -ę ending is considered diminutive and thus can be seen as infantilizing nonbinary people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neutratywy: czemu nie końcówka -ę? |author=@andrea |work=zaimki.pl |date=22 February 2022 |access-date=12 October 2022 |url= https://zaimki.pl/blog/neutratywy-zdrobnienia |language=pl}}</ref> | Words can be de-gendered by using an -ę ending such as "autorzę" (instead of masc "autor" or fem "autorka") but this is not ideal because the -ę ending is considered diminutive and thus can be seen as infantilizing nonbinary people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neutratywy: czemu nie końcówka -ę? |author=@andrea |work=zaimki.pl |date=22 February 2022 |access-date=12 October 2022 |url= https://zaimki.pl/blog/neutratywy-zdrobnienia |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612003210/https://zaimki.pl/blog/neutratywy-zdrobnienia |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> | ||
==Gender neutral neologisms== | ==Gender neutral neologisms== | ||
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|- | |- | ||
| ładnu / ładnya / ładnx | | ładnu / ładnya / ładnx | ||
| pretty<ref name="avri_Avri">{{Cite web |title=Genderneutralizacja polszczyzny? |trans-title=Gender-neutralization of the Polish language? |author=Andrea |date=2 February 2020 |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://avris.it/blog/genderneutralizacja-polszczyzny |language=pl}}</ref> | | pretty<ref name="avri_Avri">{{Cite web |title=Genderneutralizacja polszczyzny? |trans-title=Gender-neutralization of the Polish language? |author=Andrea |date=2 February 2020 |access-date=25 November 2020 |url= https://avris.it/blog/genderneutralizacja-polszczyzny |language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612003627/https://avris.it/blog/genderneutralizacja-polszczyzny |archive-date=17 July 2023 }}</ref> | ||
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Latest revision as of 13:16, 17 July 2023
Gender neutral language in Polish is more difficult than gender neutral language (also called gender inclusive language) in some languages, because grammatical gender is very pervasive in Polish. See the main article on gender neutral language for general reasons to use neutral language, common problems in using it, and its use for nonbinary people.
Pronouns[edit | edit source]
In Polish there is no standard non-gendered pronoun like English's singular they. "Oni" is the third person plural masculine pronoun (used when a group has at least one male in it, or the genders of the group are unknown), while "one" is the third person plural non-masculine pronoun (used when a group has no male members, or for groups like young children, animals, objects, or intangible concepts).[1] Translations of English singular they into Polish sometimes use "oni" despite it being masculine.[2]
There is a neuter singular pronoun "ono/jego" but that can be considered dehumanizing, similar to "it/its" in English.
Some Polish-speaking nonbinary people just use "he/his" ("on/jego") or "she/her" ("ona/jej") – either the same as their gender assigned at birth or the opposite.[3]
Some neopronoun forms have been proposed, such as[4]:
- onu/jenu
- ono/eno
- vono/vego
- ne/nego
- onx/jex
- ony/jegy
- ony/ich
- onø/jenø
- onæ/jæ
For second-person pronouns, it is possible to use the mixed-gender plural "państwo" in place of masculine "pan" or feminine "pani", but using this in reference to a singular person is not well-established.
The reflexive pronoun "się" (equivalent to "myself", "herself", "himself", "one's self", etc.) does not inflect for gender.[5]
Other words[edit | edit source]
Nouns, verbs, numerals, and adjectives are also gendered in Polish. Some Polish nonbinary people create solutions such as gender-neutral word endings, for example "chciałxm"/"chciałom"/"chciałx" instead of "chciałem" (masculine) or "chciałam" (feminine).[6][7] In the 2004 science-fiction novel Perfect Imperfection, author Jacek Dukaj used -um verb endings (e.g. "zobaczyłum" instead of the masculine "zobaczyłem" or feminine "zobaczyłam") for a "post-human" group of beings.[8] These have since become known as Dukaisms.[3]
Another gender-neutral way of speaking or writing Polish is rewording phrases to use a non-gendered conjugation of a verb. For example, instead of saying "I saw" in the masculine form "zobaczyłem" or feminine form "zobaczyłam", one could say "Udało mi się zobaczyć" (I was able to see).[9]
For written Polish, it is possible to combine the masculine and feminine forms of a noun, with a space in between the endings to acknowledge other genders. For example instead of the masculine "aktorzy" or the feminine "aktorki", one could write "aktorki_rzy".[10]
Words can be de-gendered by using an -ę ending such as "autorzę" (instead of masc "autor" or fem "autorka") but this is not ideal because the -ę ending is considered diminutive and thus can be seen as infantilizing nonbinary people.[11]
Gender neutral neologisms[edit | edit source]
This section is an incomplete list of word/phrases that have been created by Polish speakers to render them gender-neutral/gender inclusive. More can be found in the dictionary of Zaimki.pl
| Polish | English |
|---|---|
| dziennikarko | journalist[2] |
| nauczycielko | teacher[2] |
| elektryczko | electrician[2] |
| hydrauliczko | plumber[2] |
| murarzę | bricklayer[2] |
| kucharzę | cook[2] |
| bioetyko | bioethicist[2] |
| ładnu / ładnya / ładnx | pretty[12] |
See also[edit | edit source]
External resources/Further reading[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Łukasiak, Adam (20 October 2017). "Making Sense of Polish Personal Pronouns". Clozemaster Blog. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Misiek, Szymon (2020). "Misgendered in Translation?: Genderqueerness in Polish Translations of English-language Television Series". Anglica: An International Journal of English Studies. doi:10.7311/0860-5734.29.2.09. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns". Zaimki.pl. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ↑ "Skąd potrzeba niebinarnych zaimków?" [Where is the need for nonbinary pronouns?]. Zaimki.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Polish_pronouns#Reflexive_pronoun Archived on 17 July 2023
- ↑ "hi how to use they them in poland. próbuję ale im failing miserably". Archived from the original on 17 June 2020.
- ↑ "Czemu ludzie są Twoim zdaniem dyskryminowani przez swoją orientację seksualną?". Archived from the original on 17 June 2020.
- ↑ "TransGrysy wyjaśniają: co robić, a czego nie robić w kontaktach z osobami transpłciowymi?" [TransGrysy explains: what to do and what not to do when dealing with transgender people?]. kinkywinky.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ niski_grabieżca (12 June 2019). "Osoby niebinarne - jakiej są płci?". transseksualizm.blogspot.com (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ Tłumaczeń, Biuro (11 December 2015). "Gender. Płeć w języku. Feminizm w języku polskim" [Gender. Gender in language. Feminism in Polish language]. Ekspresowe tłumaczenia (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ↑ @andrea (22 February 2022). "Neutratywy: czemu nie końcówka -ę?". zaimki.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ↑ Andrea (2 February 2020). "Genderneutralizacja polszczyzny?" [Gender-neutralization of the Polish language?] (in Polish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
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