Non-binary language workshop

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An introduction to Non-binary French and Non-binary Italian: definitions, strategies & resources

Gaia Prunotto (she/her) & Elsie Campbell (they/them) 

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Outline of workshop

• Why is this important?
• A couple of notes and definitions
• An introduction to non-binary Italian with Gaia
• An introduction to non-binary French with Elsie
• Concluding remarks and resources

Why is this important?

“gendered linguistic practices are a matter of transgender justice, and seriously impact the lives of transgender, non-binary, and other gender nonconforming (GNC) teachers and students alike” (Provitola 2)

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A couple of notes before we begin

• This presentation is meant to offer more options of linguistic expression – not prescriptive obligations for any speaker.
• The goal of this workshop is to introduce you (instructors) to some of the linguistic forms in use by queer communities, and give you some preliminary ideas of how to incorporate them into your curricula/classrooms
• This is not an exhaustive list of the linguistic options of expression used by non-binary, transgender, and gender non-conforming communities – it is merely an introduction to some of the most prevalent forms.

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A few useful definitions

Grammatical gender (GG): “an inherent characteristic of nouns which, at the utterance level, prompts satellite elements [to] take on different forms as a result of the gender of the noun to which they refer” (Knisely, 174)

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ex. la table (f.) est belle (f.)

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*linguistically arbitrary – has nothing to do with performative characteristics of social gender*

Social gender (SG): “the lived, performative identities of individuals…are perceived as non-arbitrarily feminine and masculine, respectively because their GG classifications are assumed to be based on inherent sociocultural and/or biological characteristics” (Knisely 174)

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ex. Je suis une femme. Je suis professeure(f.).

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*A social construct*

Non-binary Italian - Gaia

Everything I know about NB Italian 

• Positionality
• Goals of my MA thesis
• Implementation in of gender-neutral markers in the teaching of Italian as a world language  
• What I found out and how we can use it 

Preferred pronouns

Preferred gender markers 

• Overall preference of the schwa and the asterisk to inflect articles, nouns and adjectives 
• Online communities, influencers, popular online personalities as the most common contexts in which participants encounter gender-neutral forms. 
• Rarely use linguistic innovations outside of the transgender, non-binary community for fear of misunderstandings or harassment 

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• As a null-subject language, Italian subjects can be left unexpressed in tensed clauses (Brandi & Cordin, 1989)
• Third-person singular possessive pronouns, in Italian they agree with the noun they accompany 
• One-third indicated use of gender-neutral pronouns, resorting to the English they/them in most cases 
• Only two participants listed ləi among the pronouns they use
• Either masculine or feminine pronouns and those who indicated regular use of both 

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A quick note on some of the issues with gender neutral forms in Italian

• Lack of a clear sound associated with both the schwa and the asterisk
• How Neapolitan could save the day (more research to come!)
• Claims of nun functionality and incomprehensibility  
• Not implemented on computer keyboards

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Comprehensibility and agreeableness 

• High comprehensibility of linguistic innovations 
• Slight preference for the schwa over the asterisk in all contexts except for the inflection of plural nouns : I/le ragazz* over ə ragazzə
• Overall lower positive agreeableness ratings for gender-neutral forms 
• Slight preference for the schwa or the asterisk 
• Extremely polarized opinions, ideological battle 

Some suggestions on how to use them 

Table adapted from https://italianoinclusivo.it/scrittura/

Additional resources for NB Italian

• Cavallo, A., Lugli, L., & Prearo (Eds.). (2021). Cose spiegate bene: Questioni di un certo genere. Iperborea.
• Gheno, V. (2022). Femminili Singolari—Il femminismo è nelle parole (Third Edition) effequ.
• Scottecs (Director). (2021, November 26). Cos’ǝ lo SCHWA? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzmb0II3oAA 

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Non-binary French - Elsie

Le plan – the basics of enby French

• Epicene Techniques 
• Neologisms
• Pronouns (subject, demonstrative)
• Possessive Adjectives
• Articles (definite/indefinite)
• Noun and adjective endings
• Curriculum ideas

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A couple of useful epicene techniques (without neologisms...yet!)

• Écriture inclusive (doublés abrégés) with periods 
• Formula: masc ending + . + feminine ending (+ . + s)
• Les étudiant.e.s sont parti.e.s voir le nouveau film de Céline Sciamma.
• Gendered nouns : 
• How it works? Substitute "la personne" for other gendered appellations 
• La personne (always feminine) - *my favorite*
• La personne qui est à côté de vous... / Les personnes qui sont venues … / Trouvez une personne avec qui travailler...
• Epicène nouns : (work best in plural, I find)
• Élève(s), adulte(s), jeune(s), partenaire(s), membre(s), adversaire(s)
• Substitute these words in plural for other gendered nouns relating to people

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A couple of useful epicene techniques (without neologisms...yet!)

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• Alternative agreements :
• Accord de majorité (the gendered group with the most people gets the agreement)
• Accord au choix (you decide!)
• Accord de proximité (the gendered term closest to the noun/adjective gets the agreement)
• Alternance (you switch it up, either midsentence or every sentence)

Some neologisms you should know

Iel est man adelphe (sibling). Comment s'appelle tan adelphe ? 

Celleux qui ont fait les devoirs, parlez avec vos partenaires en groupes.

Lu professeur.e est absent.e aujourd'hui parce qu'ille voyage pour une conférence.

Trouvez an partenaire pour le prochain exercice. 

De quéal élève parlez-vous ?

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Some endings for you!

Some endings for you!

Where are these most useful?

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• (Besides all the time :))
• A pronoun questionnaire to the beginning of class – with a part for selecting pronouns and selecting agreements, in order to correctly gender your students
• La famille – describing members of your family (nouns, adjectives, possessive adjectives)
• Personality/characteristics - describing yourself and other people
• Physical descriptions – height, race, hair colour
• In all instances describing groups of multiple genders

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More resources

Gender-just language education project

Non-binary French Resources

Bibliography

• Alpheratz. “Français inclusif : conceptualisation et analyse linguistique.” SHS web of conferences, vol. 46, EDP Sciences, 2018, p. 13003–, https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20184613003.
• Ashley, Florence. “Les personnes non-binaires en français : une perspective concernée et militante” H-France Salon, vol. 11, no. 14, 2019. https://h-france.net/Salon/SalonVol11no14.5.Ashley.pdf. Accessed 01 Jan 2022.
• Brandi, L., & Cordin, P. (1989). Two Italian Dialects and the Null Subject Parameter. In O. A. Jaeggli & K. J. Safir (Eds.), The Null Subject Parameter (pp. 111–142). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2540-3_4 
• Cavallo, A., Lugli, L., & Prearo (Eds.). (2021). Cose spiegate bene: Questioni di un certo genere. Iperborea.
• Gheno, V. (2022). Femminili Singolari—Il femminismo è nelle parole (Third Edition) effequ.
• Italiano Inclusivo. (2023, November 28). Ma non esistevano già alternative? Italiano Inclusivo. https://italianoinclusivo.it/scrittura/
• Knisely, Kris Aric. “Subverting the Culturally Unreadable: Understanding the Self-Positioning of Non-Binary Speakers of French.” The French Review, vol. 94, no. 2, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020, pp. 173–92, https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2020.0280.
• Pilon, Simone. “Toward a More Gender-Inclusive and Gender-Neutral French Language.” The French Review, vol. 94, no. 2, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020, pp. 193–205, https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2020.0281.
• Provitola, Blase A. ““Faut-il choisir ?”: Transgender Access to the French Language Classroom.” H-France Salon, vol. 11, no. 14, 2019,https://h-france.net/Salon/SalonVol11no14.4.Provitola.pdf . Accessed 01 Jan 2022.
• Prunotto, Gaia, "Gender Inclusivity in Italian: Can Gender Neutrality be Reached in a Gendered Language? Difficulties, Proposals and Public Perception of the Phenomenon" (2023). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11719 �https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11719 
• Scottecs (Director). (2021, November 26). Cos’ǝ lo SCHWA? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzmb0II3oAA