sortiwa
The pronoun ‘they’, used by non-binary people who identify as neither male nor female, was named word of the year by US dictionary Merriam-Webster.
In the English language, more and more people are exercising their right to choose the pronoun by which they are identified, regardless of their sex at birth — such as ‘they’ instead of ‘she’ or ‘he’.
Two months ago, the dictionary added the word ‘they’ as a non-binary pronoun that can refer to just one person.
Word of the year by Merriam-Webster (2010-2019):
- 2019: They
- 2018: Justice
- 2017: Feminism
- 2016: Surreal
- 2015: -ism
- 2014: Culture
- 2013: Science
- 2012: Socialism
- 2011: Pragmatic
- 2010: Austerity
“There’s no doubt that its use is established in the English language, which is why it was added to the Merriam-Webster.com dictionary this past September,” the website said, adding that searches for ‘they’ crossed 300 percent this year as more and more people identify as nonbinary – neither a man nor a woman.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary and Dictionary.com, the usage of a singular ‘they’ was grammatically correct and had been used since at least the late 14th century.
📝 168 new emoji sequences were approved by @unicode as part of Emoji 12.1 at #UTC161. Now listed on 📙 Emojipedia https://t.co/NoWBt9mOhJ pic.twitter.com/MCwTBjCxdD
— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 11, 2019
Nonbinary people are enjoying increased representation on television and in pop culture. Among them is British artist Sam Smith, who recently revealed a preference for ‘they/them’ pronouns “after a lifetime of being at war with my gender.”
Tech giant Apple has added “neutral” emojis that don’t distinguish between gender to the latest version of its operating system.
— With inputs from AFP
Source link
