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> The "X" suffix is an attempt by younger Spanish speakers to introduce a neuter gender to their native language. Did it really come from native Spanish speake
by joshuaissac 5y ago
> The "X" suffix is an attempt by younger Spanish speakers to introduce a neuter gender to their native language.
Did it really come from native Spanish speakers or is it an exonym? It is not the preferred term for the vast majority of Hispanic people even in the US.[1]
> Today, young English speakers are trying to popularize "they" as an English neuter pronoun
A Comedy of Errors (William Shakespeare, c.1594), Act 4, Scene 3:
> There's not a man I meet but doth salute me. As if I were their well-acquainted friend
Singular 'they' even when the gender is known has been popular in the English language for hundreds of years. Even longer than singular 'you'.
1. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/11/about-one-in-four-u-s-hispanics-have-heard-of-latinx-but-just-3-use-it/ https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/11/about-one-in...
- jhgb 5y ago>> There's not a man I meet but doth salute me. As if I were their well-acquainted friend > Singular 'they' even when the gender is known has been popular in the English language for hundreds of years. Even longer than singular 'you'. It seems to me that the negation qualifies your Shakespeare example for OED's explanation of "I. 2. Often used in reference to a singular noun made universal by every, any, no, etc., or applicable to one of either sex (= ‘he or she’)." That is distinct from a reference to a single, specific individual, which using "they" as a singular gender-non-specific pronoun with unrestricted usage would necessarily include (things like "Peter said *they wanted some tea"). Presumably this is what was meant by GP.