Neopronouns
Neopronouns are a third person pronoun that can be either considered gendered, gender-neutral, or dehumanizing. They are pronouns that have been created or invented as opposed to having evolved through history. Most times people use these pronouns as a good alternative to the normative They/Them.
The term "neo-" means new or modern and the word "neopronoun" has been used for many years with this in mind. The actual origins of the word however is lost to history. Because of their new status many cultures and dictionaries do not recognize neopronouns as actual parts of speech yet. This being said however in the recent years the Oxford English Dictionary has added several gender-neutral neopronouns to the dictionary, such as Ze, Hir, and Zir.
In addition to various letters and origins there are some neopronouns that have been coined as a way of including all of humanity or all people as a way of generalizing without gendering. These pronoun sets include the likes of Per/Pers, One/Ones, and Hu/Hum.
Like many non-binary or non-normative pronouns, many neopronoun users often use what are called Auxiliary pronouns. These are binary or normative sets; like He, She, or They; for when neopronouns cannot be used. Although use of neopronouns are preferred auxiliary pronouns are used when issues such as language barriers or learning disabilities make use of the neopronouns near impossible. However there is no right or wrong way to use neopronouns and its perfectly acceptable for a neopronoun user to decide that they don't want to use any auxiliary pronoun.
Common Neopronouns
The following are the top 15 neopronouns (in no specific order), as reported by the most recent gender census.
Pronoun Set | Nominative | Objective | Possessive determiner | Possessive pronoun | Reflexive |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Xe/Xem | Xe | Xem | Xyr | Xyrs | Xemself |
Fae/Faer | Fae | Faer | Faer | Faers | Faerself |
Ey/Em | Ey | Em | Eir | Eirs | Emself |
Ze/Hir | Ze | Hir | Hir | Hirs | Hirself |
E/Em | E | Em | Eir | Eirs | Emself |
Ae/Aer | Ae | Aer | Aer | Aers | Aerself |
Ze/Zir | Ze | Zir | Zir | Zirs | Zirself |
Voi/Void* | Voi | Void | Voids | Voids | Voiself |
They/Them^ | They | Them | Their | Theirs | Themself |
Thon/Thon | Thon | Thon | Thons | Thons | Thonself |
Star/Star* | Star | Star | Stars | Stars | Starself |
Void/Void* | Void | Void | Voids | Voids | Voidself |
Ve/Ver | Ve | Ver | Vis | Vers | Verself |
Ze/Zem | Ze | Zem | Zyr | Zyrs | Zemself |
Ne/Nem | Ne | Nem | Nir | Nirs | Nemself |
There are many many more neopronouns than just these and if you're looking into neopronouns and you like what you're seeing I urge you to look into them more because there may be some for everyone.
Notes about the above table:
^- used in a plural sense; may be better described as a normative pronoun but since its used as plural it fits here.
*- may be better described as a noun pronoun but was included in this list for completions sake.
Use of Neopronouns
Neopronouns are used in the same way that any other pronoun set is used. If you aren't sure of how to use a set use this template to figure out what pronouns are used where and how.
Nominative, Objective, Possessive determiner, Possessive pronoun, Reflexive
I think Nominative is very nice.
I asked Objective if I can borrow Possessive determiner pencil.
Nominative told me that the house is Possessive pronoun.
Nominative said Nominative would rather do it Reflexive.
Using Ey/Em/Eir/Eirs/Emself as example
I think ey is very nice.
I asked em if I can borrow eir pencil.
Ey told me that the house is eirs.
Ey said ey would rather do it emself.
Using He/Him and Xe/Xem as comparison
"He
went to the store." ➨ "Xe
went to the store."
"Oh I think that belongs to him
." ➨ "Oh I think that belongs to xem
."
"That's his
book." ➨ "That's xyr
book."
"His
favourite part of the day." ➨ "Xyrs
favourite part of the day."
"He
lifted his
bookshelf by himself
." ➨ "Xe
lifted xyr
bookshelf all by xemself
"
Resources
neoprns.carrd.co
neopronounlist.carrd.co
neopronounslist.carrd.co
pronoun.fandom wiki on neopronousn
lgbtqia.fandom wiki on neopronouns
Oxford English Dictonary about gender-neutral and neopronouns
2022 Gender Census on neopronouns
dictionary.com on gender-neutral and neopronouns
psycologytoday about neopronouns