Re: Apical pronoun in english?

Muke Tever wrote at 2004-03-03 23:56:09 (-0700)
 > E fésto Remi Villatel <maxilys@...>:
 > > Hi everybody,
 > >
 > > What kind of neologism would create a native english speaker?
 > >
 > > he + she = *hes [his]
 > > him + her = *hem [h@m]
 > > his + her = *hir [hir]
 > >
 > > <I am talking to hem. Hes is listening to me.>
 > >
 > > I refuse to call my Aliens "it"! So? Native english speakers,
 > > it's your job to create new words en English. What kind of word
 > > would you use if apical Aliens land just on the lawn of the UNHQ
 > > and refuse to be called either "he" or "she"?  (Theorical
 > > hypothesis...)  ;-)
 >
 > I assume by "apical" you mean "epicene" ?

IIRC, in the three-sexed alien species descibed in Iain M. Banks's
_The Player of Games_, the third sex was referred to as the "apex",
which would presumably require an apical pronoun.  But epicine is
certainly the more general term.

 > The easiest way, though not uncontroversial, is to use "they, them,
 > their" (which is what English-speakers often do when referring to a
 > concrete person of unknown gender, or a person in the abstract
 > whose gender is unimportant).

The trouble "they" is that it's very difficult to use singular they
with a named antecedent, even when the gender of that individual is
unknown or unimportant.  It may be the best option available, though
(certainly, I'd _like_ to see they with named antecedent become
standard, as it would make it easier to write about people online).

Alternatives would be to use he, she, or it consistently (Ursula Le
Guin calls the Gethenians "he" in _The Left Hand of Darkness_ but
"she" in the short story "Winter's King") or to use one of the many
sets of epicene pronouns already created.

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