scholarly journals Race and Language Reform

2021 ◽  
pp. 81-86
Author(s):  
Atsuko Ueda
Keyword(s):  
Language Reform

Transgender language reform

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lal Zimman
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
Inclusive Language ◽  
Trans People ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Linguistic Challenges ◽  
Contemporary United States ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
Selection Of

Transgender people’s recent increase in visibility in the contemporary United States has presented new linguistic challenges. This article investigates those challenges and presents strategies developed by trans speakers and promoted by trans activists concerned with language reform. The first of these is the selection of gendered lexical items, including both gender identity terms (woman, man, etc.) and more implicitly gendered words (e.g. beautiful, handsome). The second is the assignment of third person pronouns like she/her/hers and he/ him/his as well as non-binary pronouns like singular they/them/theirs or ze/ hir/hirs. Both of these challenges tap into the importance trans people place on individual self-identification, and they come with new interactional practices such as asking people directly what pronouns they would like others to use when referring to them. The third challenge addressed here is avoiding gendering people when the referent’s gender isn’t relevant or known, which can be addressed through the selection of gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language. The final challenge is how to discuss gender when it is relevant – e.g. in discussions of gender identity, socialisation or sexual physiology – without delegitimising trans identities. Several strategies are presented to address this issue, such as hedging all generalisations based on gender, even when doing so seems unnecessary in the normative sex/gender framework or using more precise language regarding what aspect(s) of gender are relevant. Taken as a whole, trans language reform reflects the importance of language, not just as an auxiliary to identity, but as the primary grounds on which identity construction takes place.

Linguistic markers of sexism in the Italian media: a case study of ministra and ministro

Corpora ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Formato
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
Job Titles ◽  
Sexist Language ◽  
Gender Specific

This paper examines the way that the Italian media use language to refer to female ministers in the last three governments. While Italian is a gender-specific language (e.g., a root of the job titles can be followed by either feminine or masculine morphemes, singular and plural), it is common to use masculine forms to refer to and address women. Ministro is one of those cases where masculine forms replace feminine ones – a practice which could be construed as sexist, is only rarely challenged in institutions, and to which attention has only recently been paid in academia ( Fusco, 2012 ; and Robustelli, 2012a , 2012b ). The investigation presented here focusses on how grammar is translated in a way that reproduces women's invisibility in a sexist society. A corpus-based quantitative analysis of feminine and masculine forms of ministr– used in three widely read printed Italian newspapers (Corriere della Sera, Il Resto del Carlino and La Stampa) is undertaken. Newspaper articles were collected in the period 2012–14 to cover the Monti technocratic government (three female ministers), and left-winged Letta (seven female ministers) and part of the Renzi (seven female ministers) political governments. This paper contributes to the literature on language reform and sexist language in traditionally male-inhabited physical and metaphysical (stereotypes, prototypes) spaces such as the institutional public sphere.

IX. From Sex to Gender and Back Again: Co-optation of a Feminist Language Reform

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Crawford ◽  
Annie Fox
Keyword(s):  
Language Reform

Language and Its Everyday Revolutionary Potential

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Mallinson
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Third Gender ◽  
Linguistic Practices ◽  
Naming Practices

Centering on the English language reform movement, this chapter describes three main strategies through which feminists have targeted language, both as an object to reform and a platform for revolution. First, it describes the strategy of challenging man-made language forms, exemplified in debates over masculine generics. Second, it discusses the strategy of creating and institutionalizing egalitarian naming practices in order to reclaim the power to name and define. By tracing such forms as Ms., it becomes evident that even small shifts in language use can contribute to cultural change. Third, it describes the strategy of linguistic disruption, illustrated through such neologisms as herstory and womyn, gender-neutral forms such as singular they, and third-gender forms such as zie and zir. By using language creatively and sometimes radically to reject patriarchal language, respond to gender bias, and empower women, feminist activists and everyday speakers alike can employ linguistic practices to promote equality.

Reform through Books

2020 ◽  
pp. 147-171
Author(s):  
Ahmed El Shamsy
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Life Goals ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Sociocultural Change ◽  
Religious Reform ◽  
Language Reform ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Scholarly Attention

This chapter focuses on two reformers, the Egyptian Muḥammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905) and the Syrian Ṭāhir al-Jazāʾirī (1852–1920). As a reformer, ʿAbduh in particular as received a significant amount of scholarly attention. However, his contributions to the development of Islamic book culture in the service of language reform—the second of his self-identified life goals alongside religious reform—remain little known, as do those made by al-Jazāʾirī. Confronted with a growing body of printed literature, including books translated from European languages as well as an increasingly diverse range of Arabic works, some scholars recognized the powerful potential of print to serve their objective of broad, indigenously rooted sociocultural change. Driven by lofty goals such as the renewal of the Arabic language, elevation of public discourse, and cultivation of ethical sentiments in society, these religious reformers excavated the classical tradition for forgotten books that could be harnessed as exemplars and disseminated across society thanks to print.

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