Gender Neutrality and Inclusive Language in English

A Guide to Gender Neutrality and Inclusive Language in English

Language changes as people and ideas change, serving as a reflection of the identities, philosophies, and standards of an era. An intriguing development for linguists has been the promotion in many languages around the world of using more inclusive language and, by extension, gender-neutral terms in response to attempts to make society accessible to all. So how does the English language approach this?

What is Inclusive Language?

In general, language inclusivity refers to addressing terms that may exclude certain people from society via language, thereby potentially impacting how people think about a certain profession or even certain people.

Take the English words craftsman and policeman for example. While the “man” at the end technically comes from an Old English word that just meant a person, be they male or female, the associations with the word have become increasingly linked with the male gender over the centuries.

As more women entered the workforce over the 19th and 20th centuries, words like “craftsman” and “policeman” became more discriminatory in their potential, sidelining women, with alternatives like “craftswoman” and “policewoman” being used. However, these terms are still loaded with gender associations and, as such, new terms are often preferred, often through synonyms, in these cases “artisan” and “police officer”.

This expands to not using terms that can be deemed offensive to people of different nationalities or cultures, such as “beyond the pale” or “gypped”, or people with conditions like “being OCD” about something or being “tone-deaf”. In essence, it is about using language as a mirror of society, hoping to make language and, therefore, society fairer.

Is Inclusive Language Natural?

Making changes to language, even in an endeavor to be more inclusive does have its critics, arguing that such changes are unnatural. However, this control over language itself is arguably more unnatural as language is constantly changing as standards change.

For example, words like “idiot”, “imbecile”, and “moron” were routinely used to refer to people with below-average IQs, with these words now being completely unacceptable in a medical context and used as insults in English. It is an apparently natural function of language for it to change depending on the standards of the age, a phenomenon that can be applied to slang just as much as it can to standards for socially acceptable speech and use.

What About Pronouns?

English uses a variety of pronouns to refer to different concepts and, as the concepts to which they refer change, so can the pronouns, leading to a renewed focus on a range of gender-neutral pronouns.

However, gender-neutral pronouns are nothing new in English and while “they” can be used for the gender-neutral plural, “they” can also be used for the gender-neutral singular for people and has been used by renowned English writers ranging from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Dickens when referring to people where the gender is not revealed. A more recent development is some people opting to use the pronouns they, their, theirs and themself to refer to themselves without using gendered pronouns.

It is often repeated that it is grammatically incorrect to use “they” to refer to a singular person, rooted in a tendency in the Victorian era to use the “he” as a default pronoun when gender was not clear. However, this led to a generalization of the default gender being male in language, sidelining women. The singular they very much has precedent in the English language as a gender-neutral pronoun with records of the pronoun dating back to the 14th century.

Similarly, the once common singular and less formal thou/thee/thy/thine/thyself is no longer in common English usage, with the once plural and formal “you” largely replacing it in the 17th century. There is also much precedence of different pronouns in dialects of English. For example, ye is used in Hiberno English for plural you while y’all is used in some parts of the United States.

There are indeed also other popular gender-neutral pronouns including xe/xem/xir/xirs/xirself and ze/zer/zer/zers/zerself, although they/them/their/theirs/themself are most common.

What About Honorifics?

Honorific titles in English are traditionally related to gender, with Master and Mr. for young and adult men and Miss and Mrs. for unmarried and married women respectively. However, as society changed, so too have honorifics, with Ms. now being an option for women who do not wish to specify their marital status and Mx. being an option for those who do not wish to be referred to by a specific male or female term. There are other gender-neutral honorifics, such as Misc., Msr., Myr., Pr., and Sai.

In short, gender-neutral and inclusive language raise interesting questions as to how certain ideas are ingrained in the languages we speak; how gender is tackled in English is very different to how it is addressed in the Japanese language, for example. It is an important development for those involved in language to be aware of, be they writers, editors, or translators. As language mirrors society, perhaps the opposite is true and a more inclusive approach to language could result in a more inclusive approach to society.

 

Celebrate Spanish Language Day!

Lovers of Spanish, did you know there’s a special day set aside to honor your favorite language? Observed throughout the Spanish-speaking world, Spanish Language Day (El Día del Idioma Español) – celebrated on April 23 – aims to highlight the richness and vitality of the Spanish language.

The date chosen for Spanish Language Day commemorates the death of one of the most significant and best-known Spanish language authors, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Literary scholars consider Don Quixote, Cervantes’ classic work penned in the 17th century, to be one of the most important pieces of fiction of all time.

El Día del Idioma Español dates back to 1926, when Valencian writer Vicente Clavel Andrés first proposed the idea of a special day dedicated to celebrating literature. The tradition began in Valencia and gradually spread throughout all of Spain. In 1964, the celebration was adopted by all Spanish-speaking countries.

World Book Day is also celebrated on the same day, and Spanish news agency EFE has invited several actors, writers, and artists from Spain and Latin America to hold a virtual reading of Don Quixote. Almost three chapters from Don Quixote have been selected for participants to read. This can be followed at the main Twitter account of EFE, @EFEnoticias. EFE is also inviting members of the community to participate by reading a 30-45 second excerpt. The video must be published on the user’s personal Twitter account and mention @EFEnoticias with the hashtag #YoTambiénLeoElQuijote. Participation is also possible via Instagram by publishing a story with video and then mentioning the account @efe_noticias and including the hashtag #YoTambiénLeoElQuijote.

Some useful posts:
Linguistic Features of Rioplatense (River Plate) Spanish
Seseo, ceceo and distinction…or why Spaniards “lisp” and Latin Americans do not
Pronouncing B and V: No more confusion!
The Rise of Spanish as a Second Language
Spanish is the Second Most Widely Spoken Language in the World
Spanish Language Characteristics. Spanish in the World
Castilian Spanish Versus Latin American Spanish
The Influence of Arabic on the Spanish Language

Coronavirus and Language Barriers

Coronavirus and Language Barriers: How to React in a Health Crisis

The global village in which we live has innumerable benefits, making the world smaller and more connected than ever. However, periods of crisis like the recent coronavirus outbreak highlight our vulnerabilities in this system and draw attention to linguistic misunderstandings that can lead to devastating results.

The recent outbreak has shown how the paths we have built between nations and people can be used to rapidly spread infection in a way once unimaginable. It has also shown just how many real-life issues language barriers can cause in times of crisis, which this article addresses.

The international nature of the modern world means we have more problems of an international nature, and epidemics like coronavirus, SARS and Ebola are good examples of just how quickly viruses can manipulate the connections we have built. An international health crisis requires an international response, but this is made all the more difficult by complex linguistic realities around the world. For example, it’s all well and good to issue an official warning and advice in a country in its principal language, but if not everyone understands the language, it exposes everyone to possible dangers due to lack of information, lack of awareness or pure misinformation through social media. This can exacerbate a health crisis, lead to unnecessary stress and make tensions between linguistic minorities and the majority worse.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has shown many examples of language barriers causing unnecessary problems for foreigners, especially tourists, with inefficient and haphazard approaches to translation and communication. Take the case of the British couple quarantined on a cruise ship moored in Yokohama, for example. Japanese medical authorities examined the passengers for the virus and due to their very limited knowledge of English and the British couple’s non-existent knowledge of Japanese, the couple came to believe that they had tested positive for the virus while they were actually just being told that the medical staff was positive they had to remain in quarantine on the ship. Even if translations are provided, they are often done in such a rush by non-translators that they can contain extremely harmful errors.

This issue is, of course, a problem in epidemics. However, it is also a problem in all manner of crises, as evidenced by the recent tragic bushfires in Australia. Considering Australia’s linguistic diversity, there were challenges due to misunderstandings about the need to evacuate and misinformation, potentially endangering those on the fringes of the linguistic mainstream of society, including tourists who may not receive extremely important breaking news updates.

In areas that have yet to face a high level of coronavirus outbreaks, like Latin America where the number of COVID-19 cases has not reached European proportions, countries should prepare essential documentation in all relevant languages, including those of minority groups, and foster community relations to make sure that language barriers to information can be overcome, with information access being key in such crises. All over Latin America, in addition to making documents available in major languages like Spanish, Portuguese and English, the unique demographic landscapes of each area’s minorities and tourist groups, such as Chinese tourists, should be considered when providing information to make sure that everyone knows exactly how to act.

In facing linguistic challenges, machine translations may work for very basic needs, but caution is advised, and users should be aware of their limitations. Of course, for interaction with patients and the like, interpreters would be best, possibly even phone interpreters. However, for making general information widely available, Australia’s response to the bushfire crisis shows a good outline for how to react to a crisis and overcome language barriers. In the country’s case, all essential information was professionally and readily translated so that people who could not communicate effectively in English had equal access to information, which is absolutely key to overcoming a crisis. This is an approach that countries that haven’t had any outbreaks of coronavirus should adopt, preparing to make sure that vital information is available in relevant languages.

Translators, editors, journalists and all people working in communication need to stay on top of the novel coronavirus terminology as it is being defined. Transpanish has built a COVID-19 Glossary which includes terms and definitions in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

Check out how we are supporting our clients and freelancers during this crisis.

If you need to translate vital information to English, Portuguese or Spanish, contact us for a free quote! We provide discounts for new customers and nonprofit organizations.

Spanish Marketing - Latinos

Marketing to Latinos through Social Media – Transpanish

In the early days of social media marketing, marketing strategists rarely used to target Latinos using social media or other forms of digital marketing. However, this has since changed and according to a recent article in Forbes, companies now need to be aware that on average, in the US at least, young Latinos are more likely to interact with companies on social media than the rest of the population and are very loyal to brands that use Spanish. Clearly, there is a good reason for brands to attract this growing and generally loyal target market.

According to eMarketer, while Hispanics in the US have a similar level of smartphone ownership compared to the general population, they spend 10.5 hours per week online on the devices on average compared to an average of 8.4 hours among other groups. They are also now more likely to use social networks via smartphone and are higher than average in their use of Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, while also watching more content and buying more products online than the average.

Meanwhile, another study revealed the shocking statistic that almost 50% of Hispanic millennials had used a brand hashtag or discussed a brand online compared with a figure of 17% for non-Hispanics, showing not only the huge size of the Hispanic market but also a very high level of engagement.

Facebook has also revealed that their platform is the most popular among Hispanics, with 71% of survey respondents saying that they used Facebook every day. In terms of Twitter, a study conducted in August 2018 found that Latinos make up 31% of the Twitter users in the US, only surpassed by Asians at 35%.

The Latino community is now, as can be seen, an incredibly important target market online and as eMarketer concludes, “Internet penetration among US Hispanics has mostly – though not entirely – caught up with that of the general US population, but their digital activities still stand out in several ways,” adding that “ad spending growth on US Hispanic media has outpaced that of total media in recent years and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.” [1]

So, how can marketers take advantage of Latinos’ growing presence on social media to promote their brands?

Marketers must realize that an effective social media campaign directed at the Latino segment will involve more than just a mere translation of the existing English-language campaign. Hispanics are eager to connect with content and engage in a dialog with their favorite brands, so companies should provide opportunities for consumers to interact bilingually or in their preferred language as it has been shown to be highly appreciated. In addition, they must consider how the English-language and Spanish-language pages can complement each other and create synergy, rather than just duplicating the message in another language, since many users will likely visit both pages if companies offer unique content.

Although Twitter offers a different format for customer engagement, the keys to successful corporate marketing on Twitter are to 1) jump in on existing conversations that are taking place within the Latino community to develop brand awareness and 2) get consumers to join in on the conversation about the company’s brand. Live chats on Twitter also provide sponsorship opportunities that may prove attractive to advertisers.

Are you ready to speak to your Spanish-speaking audience?

Producing great content in Spanish takes time and commitment. We can help you expand your reach and establish a  connection with an audience that speaks the second most widely spoken language in the world. If you’d like to find out more about our service, visit Multilingual Social Media.

Content Translation

Why Good Translation for Your Online Content Is So Important

In an age when more business is done online instead of face-to-face, writing correctly has never been so important for making a good impression. In today’s world, writing using the correct grammar and avoiding silly spelling mistakes is as key to coming across well online as having a firm handshake in the analog business world.

The Importance of Writing Well Online

Whether you’re writing an email, updating a blog on your website, posting on social media or writing a report, good writing will always help whatever your needs. This is a fact that businesses today are well aware of, leading to an increase in the popularity of proofreading services and software, which reflects the importance of writing well in the modern age. In fact, according to one study by BBC News, even just a single spelling mistake can cut sales in half, with Oxford University’s Professor Dutton adding that it can “raise concerns over trust and credibility.”

Writing well isn’t just about knowing the do’s and don’ts of grammar, it’s also about expressing yourself in a way that will appeal to your audience, be they readers of your website or customers of your products. It is for these same reasons that good translation and localization is important, and finding a translator who can convey your message naturally through good writing is crucial when pursuing a multilingual audience.

Good Writing Needs Good Translation

Even if you write well in one language, poor translations into another will likely cause misunderstandings and make a poor impression, coming across as uninterested in the language or their custom. Good translation is, like good writing, about showing respect and doing so will help improve your reputation and make a good impression on the reader. If you take the time to get a professional, accurate translation, then it shows you have respect for the language while also avoiding misunderstandings that could prevent you from reaching your potential. In some circumstances, spending a little extra on having a skilled translator can hinder confusion that could potentially even lead to lawsuits.

Don’t Skimp on Translation

Good translation isn’t just about the writing itself. This is something that is often misunderstood and a reason why many businesses choose to cut corners and rely on machine translation tools alone. Good translation is also about localization and knowledge of the target culture as well as the language, being able to adapt the copy to suit the needs of the target market. For example, if you write in English in an informal, friendly manner with lots of colloquialisms, translating these directly into Spanish using an automatic translation tool would be highly confusing. In these circumstances, localization is about being able to adapt content for the target market and in this example, it’d feature the use of Spanish colloquialisms.

Using a machine translator or even a human translator who either isn’t a professional or fully aware of cultural differences can have negative effects on your content, and this will very likely lead to mistakes that could cost you clients.

It’s very important to not only write well in the first place but when translating to another language, to make use of a professional translator who can not only translate your text but adapt it, making it suitable for a local audience.

Top Ten Untranslatable Words for International Translation Day

Every year, on 30 September, people around the world honor the art of translation with International Translation Day. It marks the feast day of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translation, who dedicated over two decades of his life in the 4th century to translating the Bible into Latin. Of course, there are often difficulties in translation and St. Jerome himself was no exception, famously translating the Hebrew for radiance as horns, which led to many depictions of a horned Moses. In the spirit of International Translation Day fun, this article takes a light-hearted look at one of the most interesting topics in translation: untranslatable words.

Here are a few of our favorites:

  1. German – Vorführeffekt

The wonderful thing about the German language is how it easily forms compound words to create the most suitable words for even the most niche and specific feelings. Vorführeffekt literally means “the effect of being in front of someone” and refers to when you try to show somebody something but you can’t because they are watching you.

  1. Yaghan – Mamihlapinatapai

Coming from the Yaghan language, an indigenous tongue in Tierra del Fuego, mamihlapinatapai refers to the look between two people where each wishes that the other would begin an action that they both want, yet they are both reluctant to initiate themselves. It can also refer to an unspoken understanding between two people. Words like this, and many others, highlight the importance of preserving endangered languages around the world as they are a portal into the human experience.

  1. Finnish – Kalsarikännit

This oddly specific word is an example of the joys of the Finnish language, one of the oldest in Europe with eons of collective stories to tell. This word here, for example, refers to getting drunk alone at home in your underwear.

  1. Welsh – Hiraeth

Some words are of such importance to a culture that they can even embody it and while Welsh has many unique words like cwtch (a cuddle or a safe space with a high degree of comfort), hiraeth embodies the Welsh attitude. It is akin to an incredible homesickness for a home you cannot return to or maybe never even existed in the first place. It is also often used when talking about Wales’ past in a romantic manner.

  1. Korean – Han ()

As with Welsh and hiraeth, han is described as a typical Korean characteristic, which is unsurprising considering the area’s history. Han is a state of simultaneous sadness and hope. It’s an unresolved resentment against injustice, a sense of helplessness in the face of overwhelming odds and a desire to seek revenge and justice.

  1. Spanish – Sobremesa

While we all know the feeling of many of these words, only a few languages have defined them. The Spanish language’s sobremesa is a perfect example of this, the time after having eaten a meal spent talking to those with whom you have eaten. Not to be confused with Portuguese sobremesa, which means dessert.

  1. Tagalog – Gigil

Gigil is again something many of us would have felt and this is often described in English as “cute aggression”, or the intense desire to squeeze something cute.

  1. Spanish – Empalagar

As the desire to eat something sweet seems unrelated to the desire to eat due to hunger, it’s not too surprising that the Spanish language has developed a useful term to refer to the different states. The verb empalagar here refers when a food is too sweet and it makes you feel sick.

  1. Georgian – Shemomechama (შემომეჭამა)

Like German, the way the Georgian language works allows it to create highly specific words that can’t really be directly translated, which helps to give it its difficult reputation. An example of this is shemomechama, which refers to when you didn’t mean to eat something, but you ate it anyway, like eating with a full stomach.

  1. Brazilian Portuguese – Cafuné

This beautiful term refers to the act of running one’s fingers through a loved one’s hair, which can be applied to people and pets alike.

Do you know any more unusual untranslatable words? Let us know in the comments.

Latin America’s Indigenous Languages

How Latin America’s Indigenous Languages Are Under Threat

Latin America is one of the most linguistically diverse places on the planet but like so many other places around the world, vast swathes of its indigenous languages are under threat of extinction by global languages like Spanish and Portuguese. Brazil alone risks losing a third of its nearly 200 languages by 2030. Meanwhile, in Mexico, almost two-thirds of its 68 languages are at critical risk of extinction, a trend seen across Latin America.

This creeping extinction threatens to erase thousands of years of history through discrimination, forced displacement, and the rise of technology that sidelines these indigenous languages. With 43% of the world’s languages being endangered and one-fifth of Latin America’s indigenous population already having lost their native tongues, UNESCO has declared 2019 the Year of Indigenous Languages to raise awareness of their importance to human heritage.

Despite some success stories, like Nahuatl, Quechua and Guarani, many indigenous languages face difficulties.

After being called pinches indios (damn Indians) by her schoolmates, a young speaker of the Mexican indigenous language of Kumiai, Josefina Meza, described how she thought her fellow pupils were trying to be her friend. Until she understood what they were saying. The abuse of those who spoke indigenous languages like Kumiai led to people starting to avoid speaking it and today, decades after this story, only 381 speak it.

Stories like this can be found throughout Latin America, leading to accusations that not enough has been done to protect these indigenous languages and their immeasurable value to human heritage. Shame or fear of speaking a language through discrimination is just one of the many tools used in linguicide; political ignorance is also often to blame. “Our languages don’t die, they are murdered,” announces Mexican Mixe speaker Yasnaya Aguilar to the Mexican Congress as she blames discriminatory education, health and justice systems for the threat to languages like hers.

Even in indigenous languages that are relatively widely spoken like Quechua, simple oversights can potentially endanger them. In 1996, the former Peruvian congressman Jose Linares was involved in a program to implement new technologies in 12 schools. The problem, however, was that the programming language used, Logo, was only in Spanish while one of the schools was majority Quechua. Determined for the children to learn in their native language, Linares worked with a team to translate it into Quechua, an example of a modern initiative that helps languages to survive. Since then, he has created a new Quechua dictionary with new scientific and technological terms that once made such technology limited to the Spanish language.

Through a mix of historical and legal discrimination, abolition and failure to adapt to the modern world, languages die. Latin America has been a linguistic battleground for centuries, and since the Spanish and Portuguese conquests, the linguistic scenery changed forever with major languages like Nahuatl and Quechua even taking a back seat to the new official languages. The languages were even officially banned in 1770 by Carlos III, the King of Spain. Despite this, some 600 survived, albeit with many severely under threat.

Since the Portuguese conquest, more than 1,000 languages have disappeared in Brazil, where indigenous language rights were only relatively recently recognized in 1988, leading to efforts being made to document and preserve these endangered languages. Although there may be recognition of one’s right to speak an indigenous language, it is still difficult, nigh on impossible with the rise of globalization, to actually entirely live one’s life in it.

Despite the critical situations facing many languages in Latin America and around the world, globalization and the rise of technology can actually be a tool to help keep languages alive. Take the Irish and Welsh languages for example, which less than a century ago many were predicting would die out. Today, with the help of governments, technological adaptation and apps like Duolingo, people from all over the world have taken an interest in their languages. With this proven potential for success, hopefully the same can be done to help preserve the hundreds of threatened languages in Latin America and share their stories with humankind.

Translating Genericized Trademarks

Language is constantly changing and adapting to suit its environment. One noticeable example of this is in brand names for new technologies or products becoming used as a generic name for any similar product whether they were produced by the brand or not. From trampoline to cellophane, words that were once specific brand names have entered everyday language to refer to general products, a process that continues today with the likes of the term photoshopping and googling. However, the introduction of these terms is not universal to all languages and can provide potential problems for translators, not to mention lawyers and marketers. This article highlights several notable examples of brand names that have been generalized and how to approach translating these so-called genericized trademarks.

Notable Generic Trademarks

Dig a little into the subject and there’s a surprisingly large number of words that have made their way into common use that were once brand names. These include Velcro, which is trademarked by Velcro Companies and refers to, instead, the “hook-and-loop fastener” system – a term that is almost never used in common speech to refer to the system.

Similar examples include:

  • A Zimmer frame to refer to a walking frame (with the Zimmer frame specifically belonging to Zimmer Holdings).
  • A Taser to refer to an electroshock weapon instead of one created by Taser International. It is, in fact, an acronym for a fictional weapon: Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle. This has created the verbs ‘to tase’ and ‘to taser’.
  • A Hoover to refer to a vacuum cleaner instead of one created by Hoover Company. This has also become a verb synonymous with ‘to vacuum’.
  • Rizla instead of tobacco rolling papers, with Imperial Brands’ Rizla papers being the world’s most successful rolling paper brand.
  • Coke can be often used to refer to all Cola in the UK, not just Coca Cola, while in some parts of the southern US, Coke is the generic term for all soda.
  • PowerPoint to refer to all slide shows or presentation programs, instead of exclusively the slide show presentation program developed by Microsoft.
  • A Zeppelin to refer to rigid airships (with Luftschiffbau Zeppelin being a leading German airship company founded by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin).
  • Photoshop to refer to all photo manipulation instead of the program by Adobe. It is commonly used as a verb ‘to photoshop’ or ‘to shop’ to mean digital photographic manipulation.

Potential Problems for Translators

For understandable reasons, companies often fight hard to prevent their brand from becoming a generic term. The Velcro legal team has even created a music video complaining about the use of the generic term Velcro. Some companies have been more successful in the prevention of their brands becoming generic terms, such as Nintendo who spread the use of “video game console” instead of a “Nintendo”, which now sounds antiquated and out of touch.

With this in mind, some brands may become incorporated as genericized trademarks in some languages while others may not. There is also the issue of culture and which products have been marketed more successfully in an area. For example, the generic untrademarked term “ramen” is used in the US to refer to instant noodles, while this is often referred to using the genericized trademark “Pot Noodle” in the UK, so even in the same language complications can arise as to what is being referenced. These issues can complicate translations for translators who are unaware of what is actually meant by the trademark, leading to possible misunderstandings and mistranslations. For instance, in Mongolia, the term “Canon” is used to refer to photocopying, named after the brand, but if this term were to be translated literally into English due to an insufficient level of cultural knowledge on the part of the translator, there could be problems in regard to whether they are specifically referring to the brand.

How to Translate Genericized Trademarks

As with most translation issues, there are a few strategies that can be used depending on the translator’s aim. If the cultural context is important or perhaps if there is no equivalent term in the target language, an explanation may be necessary. However, often times these terms are just used without people being aware that they are referring to a specific brand. In these instances, the brand name becomes a synonym rather than a new term, so Hoover – now essentially a synonym for vacuum cleaner in English – should be substituted with the non-trademark name vacuum cleaner when translating into another language.

In short, generic trademarks are an issue to be aware of when translating and care should be taken considering both the context and the intention of the piece. When possible, for clarity’s sake, translators may want to consider avoiding their use unless it sounds unnatural to do so.

Gender-Neutral Language in English

Guide to Translating with Inclusive Gender-Neutral Language in English

While English doesn’t tend to gender its nouns, in contrast to many other languages like Spanish (which has its own approaches to inclusivity, see this article in Spanish), gender still subconsciously plays a key role in the language. From mankind to kingdom, countless words in the English language are charged with gender associations without speakers often meaning to make any sort of comment by doing so, a fact that translators should consider in their work.

The issue here is not related to the intended meanings of the words, but the often-discriminatory histories and ideas they reflect, risking leaving some feel left out of the human story. As the world becomes more inclusive and open-minded, its languages – metaphors for inclusivity, adaptability, and communication – evolve too, promoting gender-neutral language.

Why Use Gender-Neutral Language?

When gender-neutral language is discussed, transgender and non-binary issues follow soon after, which is perfectly understandable considering the growing awareness of these people and the struggles they face. However, gender-neutral language isn’t just a matter of including transgender and non-binary people, it’s about including everyone.

A great example of the potential usefulness of gender-neutral language is when you’re unsure of whether someone you’re translating material about is male, female, or non-binary, or perhaps from a culture with naming conventions you don’t understand. Using gender-neutral pronouns like they/them/their here is a major advantage of the English language that not only covers all possible bases but protects both you and the addressee from potentially awkward situations.

A Cultural Shift

It’s not just about pronouns. Gendered language and its role in the English language can be seen everywhere. Consider the words of Star Trek’s Captain Kirk “Where no man has gone before” in contrast to Jean-Luc Picard’s “Where no one has gone before” some decades later. The implication shifted from that this was man’s adventure, to everyone’s adventure. Language changed in Star Trek, reflecting changes in society – changes that are still happening today and that translators should bear in mind when trying to be inclusive.

How to Approach Gender-Neutral Language

Contrary to popular myth, the English language has had a gender-neutral alternative to he and she for centuries, making gender neutrality relatively easy. While there are pronouns that some non-binary and trans people may favor and that are polite to use if they make them known, the simple gender-neutral singular they/their/them pronouns have been used by everyone from Chaucer to Shakespeare and are absolutely not exclusively used for plurals. English has great built-in gender-neutral options that should be used if there is ambiguity or when gender is not important.

SIngular They - AlternativesEnglish Makes It Easy

While many languages insist on marking a difference between male and female doctors, lawyers and so on, English generally doesn’t and makes gender-neutral terms easy and natural to use. If there are gendered terms like businessman or policewoman, then this can be changed to businessperson or police officer. Other quick tips include “humanity” over “mankind”, “everyone” over “ladies and gentlemen” and “Good morning/afternoon” over “Dear Mr./Ms.”. The choice of vocabulary in the English language is vast and there’s almost always a natural gender-neutral option if you consult your thesaurus.

Inclusivity Is Key

This isn’t saying that gendered terms should never be used in translations. That would sound unnatural and they have to be used sometimes. The point is to encourage inclusivity through language as translators whenever the gender is an unimportant factor in a piece. There’s an argument to be made that language, along with history, has sided toward the role of males and overlooked females. But we are now at a point with greater inclusivity than ever before so it’s important to consider the role of language as it evolves to become more inclusive alongside us.

The Schwa: A Native Speaker Feature

The schwa sound is a revelation that comes to learners of English as they progress to higher levels. Considered as a ‘native speaker feature’, it helps both pronunciation and understanding by changing the stress of words and sentence.

Often referred to as a reduced, weak or unstressed sound, the schwa doesn’t involve the lips or tongue, and is merely the noise emitted when we engage the vocal cords. However, it is an essential concept to grasp for any learner of English as a foreign language.

The Schwa and Stress

Being a stress-timed language, English relies on the schwa sound to avoid sounding robotic with overuse of stress, or sounding monotone through under use of stress. To achieve anything like native level speaking skills, the use of the schwa is essential.

When it comes to words being stressed or unstressed, generally speaking, words in English can be divided up into two groups:

Stressed: nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs. These communicate the main message of the sentence and are therefore stressed.

Unstressed: auxiliary verbs, pronouns, articles, linkers and prepositions. These are often referred to as grammar words and are, in general, unstressed.

“We are Going to the Shops?”: Looking at the example sentence of “we are going to the shops”, the words marked in bold are the ones that would use the schwa sound, being an auxiliary verb, a preposition and an article respectively. The other words are the ones that are necessary to communicate the main message. Essentially, they could stand alone and the message would still get across: “we going shops”. Many elementary learners of English would use this exact structure, as would young children learning to speak their mother tongue.  However, grammatically this is incorrect.

Pronunciation, Understanding and Production

As already stated, grasping the use of the schwa will not only work towards achieving more native-like speech skills, but will also improve understanding. In turn, having more advanced understanding skills will lead to more accurate production.

Before understanding the use of the schwa, learners of English often just don’t hear it in sentences, and therefore reproduce those sentences incorrectly, as in the example given above. Other examples could be:

  • What are you talking about?  –  What you talking about?
  • They are arriving tomorrow  –  They arriving tomorrow
  • Come to my house – Come my house
  • I like the black one – I like the black one

The top two examples omit the auxiliary verb, the third drops the preposition and the fourth misses out the article.

More to Explore

There is a lot more to explore about the schwa, such as it being used for clusters of letters and also for stressed and unstressed syllables, but as a first insight the general concept of its use with stress in a sentence is key. Another angle of the schwa to look at would be its use in different accents as some use stress in different ways.