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Feminisation of words for professions has been going on for a while now in French. Either a new word consistent with French rules is made (e.g. "docteure") or t

Feminisation of words for professions has been going on for a while now in French. Either a new word consistent with French rules is made (e.g. "docteure") or the feminine article is simply used in front of the same word ("madame la ministre"). There is also a broader "écriture inclusive" (inclusive writing) movement militating against things like defaulting to masculine forms of plural nouns and adjectives for groups of people of indeterminate sex, but that is less popular so far.

wrs 8y ago
Thats not the issue, though — it isn’t that there’s no word for a female doctor. If you know someone’s male, in English everyone’s happy to use “he” (I think). The issue at hand is that there’s no word for a doctor of unknown gender. What does the inclusive writing movement suggest one should do in this case? In English, only the pronouns are concerned, so you can advocate using a different pronoun, but in French the genders of nouns have more pervasive effects.
- FeteCommuniste 8y ago
  It depends on the person you ask. Some propose using parentheses (docteur(e)), others using a dot (docteur.e), still others writing out both words (docteur ou docteure). Articles on slate.fr use that last convention.
  - wrs 8y ago
    I’m only a beginner in French, but doesn’t this syntax explode because of the other gender implications? Do you have to write things like “l(e/a) docteur(e) est grand(e)” or “L’histoire d(u/e la) docteur(e)”? And how does this work in speech?
    - FeteCommuniste 8y ago
      You're right that it can get pretty clumsy and you can end up with parentheses all over the place. Paraphrasing to avoid it can only help so much. In speech the only feasible solution is to use both forms, separated by "ou" or "et" according to the meaning you want ("les étudiants et étudiantes"). Some advocate using the "rule of proximity," which means that the adjective accords with the noun that is closest to it. So, "les hommes et les femmes sont belles," whereas traditionally the adjective would be "beaux."

wrs 8y ago

Thats not the issue, though — it isn’t that there’s no word for a female doctor. If you know someone’s male, in English everyone’s happy to use “he” (I think). The issue at hand is that there’s no word for a doctor of unknown gender. What does the inclusive writing movement suggest one should do in this case? In English, only the pronouns are concerned, so you can advocate using a different pronoun, but in French the genders of nouns have more pervasive effects.

FeteCommuniste 8y ago
It depends on the person you ask. Some propose using parentheses (docteur(e)), others using a dot (docteur.e), still others writing out both words (docteur ou docteure). Articles on slate.fr use that last convention.
- wrs 8y ago
  I’m only a beginner in French, but doesn’t this syntax explode because of the other gender implications? Do you have to write things like “l(e/a) docteur(e) est grand(e)” or “L’histoire d(u/e la) docteur(e)”? And how does this work in speech?
  - FeteCommuniste 8y ago
    You're right that it can get pretty clumsy and you can end up with parentheses all over the place. Paraphrasing to avoid it can only help so much. In speech the only feasible solution is to use both forms, separated by "ou" or "et" according to the meaning you want ("les étudiants et étudiantes"). Some advocate using the "rule of proximity," which means that the adjective accords with the noun that is closest to it. So, "les hommes et les femmes sont belles," whereas traditionally the adjective would be "beaux."