this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
160 points (92.1% liked)
Latin Language
121 readers
1 users here now
If you cannot see any of my posts, check https://catbox.moe/faq.php
Salve! Haec communitas de lingua Latina in lemmy est.
Everyone is welcome here, from absolute beginners to practically fluent speakers.
Dictata (rules):
- All type of content is allowed, from questions to memes, as long as it is about Latin.
- Think before you post or comment.
- Be kind.
If you are learning Latin, be sure to check the Codex.
Some other great communities to check out:
founded 3 weeks ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I have no idea why they exist since they serve the same purpose as they/them but sound weirder, but apparently it's "zee" and "zerr"
Thank you.
And yes, I've never got it. Singular they dates back to Middle English. So I've never understood the feeling of the need to reinvent the wheel.
Of course if someone wanted to go by xi I'd do my best to honour that.
I don't necessarily have any grudges against neopronouns (except stupid ones like dragon fucker) but i just use they/them because my brain cannot handle using words like that lmao
besides, its gender neutral so i suppose its fine?
Yeah I agree with you. I'm personally for a universal gender neutral singular third person neopronoun, or they/them, whichever becomes common (they/them is already common but with some opposition and can be a bit clunky sometimes). I am, however, against personalized neopronouns. Those are just additional names for a person that you need to remember and use correctly. Pronouns have five cases in English, which would make every single person have six names you need to pick from depending on context. It's impractical and unnecessary. I thought the point of pronouns was so that the name didn't have to be repeated again and again?
Just have a universal pronoun and it's all over, everyone is happy.
Yes, but...
First, this is coming from a place of irritation with ambiguity, not from being supportive of neopronouns. Not that I'm opposed to neopronouns, per se, but my motivation in defending something like xi/xer is more banal: I hate how ambiguous English can be about some things, and in particular, pronouns.
I am not from the South, but I adopted y'all as soon as I learned about it merely because "you" being both singular and plural drives me nuts. "Y'all" is clearly plural "you," and if everyone used "y'all" then we could normalize "you" to always being singular.
Same with "they," only there isn't a common convenient dialect fix for the plural/singular issue. I happily embrace "xi/xer/xem" and whatever else necessary to provide a distinction between singular and plural. For me, the gender aspect is entirely secondary, but I'm happy to adapt to whatever.
I do object to open ended shit like "people should be allowed to define how they're referred to." OP's joke would be funny except that Latin had distinct rules - people weren't just making up whatever shit and flexing by socially pressuring others around them to conform to their own invented pidgin vocabulary.
Let's define a set of pronouns that covers the LGBTQ+ set; we'll end up with, what, 8 or 10 pronoun groups. I don't think that's the most absurd thing. You want absurd, look through a telephone registry in Paris, and see names like Jean-Franc Christophe-Luarde de Luc. That's clearly naming gone off the rails. If someone wants to make up their own fantasy pronouns, fine, but I will not feel ashamed for not using "dragonfucker" as a pronoun for that one dipshit.
I see someone missed school.
Pretty sure they don't teach about neopronouns in muslim countries. Explain please?