4 ms·
nit(to me, maybe not to them): Audrey requests the use of 3rd person pronouns. Out of curiosity - how does that work in Chinese?
by oh_sigh 6y ago
nit(to me, maybe not to them): Audrey requests the use of 3rd person pronouns. Out of curiosity - how does that work in Chinese?
- mxwsn 6y agohttps://www.slate.com/human-interest/2013/12/mandarin-chinese-a-gender-neutral-pronoun-meaning-he-she-or-it-gains-traction-in-china.amp https://www.slate.com/human-interest/2013/12/mandarin-chines...
- sowbug 6y agoGendered pronouns don't exist in spoken Chinese. Some such as 她, 它, and 牠 do exist in written Chinese, but they are neologisms, arising only relatively recently (nineteenth century). They're all pronounced the same (tā in pinyin). Prior to then, the word 他 (also tā) would be used to represent he/him/she/her/it. I have heard that in modern times, some actually use the pinyin tā in a sentence consisting otherwise only of Chinese characters to represent the truly gender-neutral pronoun. However, I've never seen that myself; I've seen only 他. Incidentally, this is why you'll sometimes hear a native Chinese speaker mistakenly use "he" or "him" instead of "she" or "her." It's a distinction they don't make in their native spoken language, so it doesn't come naturally to them.
- graton 6y ago> Incidentally, this is why you'll sometimes hear a native Chinese speaker mistakenly use "he" or "him" instead of "she" or "her." I know speakers of foreign languages with strong gendering (as in every person/object has a gender in their language) and they will still confuse she/he at times.