New Fix To The Pronoun Problem: `Hu' Latest Substitute For `He,' And `She'

[that old guy]

Sorry, but this just sounds ridiculous.

New Fix To The Pronoun Problem

`Hu' Latest Substitute For `He,' And `She'

By WILLIAM WEIR
Courant Staff Writer

June 15 2007

For at least 150 years, people have been trying to solve the pronoun dilemma.

That would be the dilemma that causes ungainly formations out of fairness to both sexes: "he or she," "him or her," or "s/he." Some avoid the gender question altogether by speaking in the plural, as in "If anyone asks, tell them what they need to know."

Some have taken the more extreme approach of devising entirely new pronouns that specify no gender. "Ne," "hizer," "thon" "shem" and "herm" are just a few that have come along, and faded almost as quickly. They're known as gender-neutral, or epicene, pronouns.

The latest such pronoun comes from DeAnn DeLuna, who teaches literature at Johns Hopkins University. Her creation, "hu," would replace he, she, him, her and his. Because it's just one word, unlike an entire set of pronouns, DeLuna says its easier to use than other gender-neutral pronouns. And the word (pronounced "huh"), trips off the tongue easily.

courant.com | New Fix To The Pronoun Problem

[iansales]

In the UK, we have the perfectly serviceable "they" to use as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. Only an academic could come up with something as daft as "hu".

[Joel007]

Looks like text speak for "who", and sounds like uncertainty. I can see a massive 0.0001% of the population using it.

[Peter Graham]

Isn't "huh" already in use? In North America it appears to mean "I beg your pardon", whereas in Britain it is the generic response to any question asked of anyone under the age of seventeen years by anyone over the age of forty five years.

Regards,

Peter Graham

[Joel007]

Anyway, anyone who uses a non-gender specific pronoun will be assumed to be a feminist

[j. d. worthington]

Oh, good. As if ebonics wasn't nonsensical and insulting enough.....

[chrispenycate]

Originally Posted by iansales

In the UK, we have the perfectly serviceable "they" to use as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. Only an academic could come up with something as daft as "hu".

If you use the form "they" as a singular, pedants like myself (on this site, frequently very much like myself) will leap on you from a great height.
If you use the gramatically correct but politically qestionable "he" to indicate a member of the human race of undetermined gender, the PC growd will be nipping at your ankles.
The need for a neuter pronoun set is obvious; getting one accepted by reactionary stick-in the muds (yes, that's me again) much less so.

[Anastasia]

The Genderqueer movement has been using non-specific pronouns for years e.g. 'hy' for he/she. When I first came across it online, I was rather confused. I do see the point of it (some people are born intersex i.e. neither female or male) but then again, it's kind of fundamental to our society that people are either male or female. I do know one intersex person. He long ago gave up trying to get people to stop saying 'he' or 'she' and just goes by 'he' now.

As the Barb once said "There are more things in heaven and earth... than I dreamt of in your philosophies"

A society that doesn't, or maybe a society with more than two genders, would be a great idea for a fantasy or SF story however. I believe Robert Heinlein wrote one, or maybe someone else.

[iansales]

Originally Posted by chrispenycate

If you use the form "they" as a singular, pedants like myself (on this site, frequently very much like myself) will leap on you from a great height.

It's grammatically acceptable to use "they" as a singular pronoun in British English - see here.

Besides, when the alternatives are a) tying yourself in knots with "he or she", b) pandering to the PC crowd, or c) stupid made-up words like "hu", then as far as I'm concerned there's no sensible reason not to use the singular they.

:-)

[that old guy]

The whole thing seemed weird to me when I read it, but what I especially didn't understand was using the same term for both the pronoun and its possessive. Thus:

"She needs to do her homework,"

becomes

"Hu needs to do hu homework."

I don't think I could ever get used to that.

[j. d. worthington]

The problem with such words being used in so many senses (that is, words that are artificially developed, rather than having developed as part of a language over time) is that they make for confusion and less precise communication. And let's face it, language -- the one tool we've got for precise communication -- is often nebulous enough as is. Throwing things like this into it just makes for more misunderstandings... not less.

[The Ace]

Sound of head being banged repeatedly off a wall.

[lin robinson]

Hu comes up with this stuff?

[Talysia]

I can't believe this...Truth really is stranger than fiction.

[hippokrene]

Originally Posted by iansales

In the UK, we have the perfectly serviceable "they" to use as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. Only an academic could come up with something as daft as "hu".

We do the same in the US, but for whatever reason our academic types have 45% more daftness than the UK. Maybe it's all the sunshine.