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Pronouns, gender and sex in Norwegian
Author(s) -
Venås Kjell
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal of applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.712
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1473-4192
pISSN - 0802-6106
DOI - 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1992.tb00032.x
Subject(s) - norwegian , pronoun , ideology , set (abstract data type) , linguistics , psychology , computer science , political science , law , politics , philosophy , programming language
In Norwegian, the third‐person singular pronoun is specified for gender, the masculine variant han being used for males and the feminine variant ho or hun for females. Han was traditionally used generically and sex‐indefinitely. For ideological reasons, this usage has been opposed in recent years. At first, the Norwegian Language Council introduced a set of new guidelines for avoiding the use of generic and sex‐indefinite han in school textbooks. After having second thoughts, the Council decided that the feminine pronoun should be accepted in these contexts, even if such a usage is at variance with the linguistic rules and at the same time introduces a new pattern of discrimination. The stages in the development of the policy are sketched out and new information presented about usage in generic and sex‐indefinite contexts today. On the basis of this information, a comparison is made between the usage in textbooks and in various other kinds of literature. A possible scenario for the future is discussed in the conclusion.