Chinese ruined a perfectly good gender-neutral pronoun(andrewbatson.com)
andrewbatson.com
Chinese ruined a perfectly good gender-neutral pronoun
https://andrewbatson.com/2023/03/22/how-chinese-ruined-a-perfectly-good-gender-neutral-pronoun/
4 comments
It seems like Chinese still, at least, has the English compromise of a female pronoun and an alternately unmarked and male pronoun, which works pretty well to the extent that it allows ambiguity, but at the weakness of possibly being cumbersome when needing to specify male man. And when that degree of specificity is required, presumably the explicit type casting is a manageable cost.
> It is possible to have an extended conversation in Chinese about a person who is not present without ever specifying whether that person is male or female, and indeed for the participants in that conversation to not actually know that person’s gender. This perfectly ordinary experience in Chinese can only be achieved in English by the deliberate use of unusual literary techniques.
Yeah, right. I mean if he compared Chinese with French or German he might have a point. But in English you also have to read half of page to determine the "gender" of the subject.
Yeah, right. I mean if he compared Chinese with French or German he might have a point. But in English you also have to read half of page to determine the "gender" of the subject.
i don't see how the usage of different written `ta` "ruins" anything. how anyone can not see how the events of may 4th and the inclusiveness of women (as a hallmark of young socialist movements) are related is beyond me.
makes total sense to have a way to express the femininity of a person in the written language as an outspokenness to the existing social order. and it caught on, and the entire sino world uses it, so it must have some use.
makes total sense to have a way to express the femininity of a person in the written language as an outspokenness to the existing social order. and it caught on, and the entire sino world uses it, so it must have some use.