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German is also developing (unofficial) gender-neutral nouns using an asterisk ending but I think it’s also an open discussion about how best to handle it. It’s
by jamil7 5y ago
German is also developing (unofficial) gender-neutral nouns using an asterisk ending but I think it’s also an open discussion about how best to handle it. It’s mostly often seen when referring to a person’s role, position or job in a way that includes all genders and non-binary people. I speak the language but it’s not my mother tongue so native German speakers might explain it better.
- OJFord 5y agoAs in things like ~fireman~ -> fire*? How do you pronounce it?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jamil7 5y agoBasically you take the word stem, add the asterisk and then append the female ending, you pronounce it by putting a stop where the * is and then saying the feminine ending (at least that’s how I’ve seen it done). This probably wouldn’t work in French since they hate putting stops anywhere :) Some info and alternatives here https://www.goethe.de/ins/th/en/m/spr/mag/21967217.html https://www.goethe.de/ins/th/en/m/spr/mag/21967217.html
- chaoskanzlerin 5y agoThere's two types of gender-neutral nouns in German being used: - apprehending markers like -*in, -_in, -In [1] - forming a gerund from a verb describing the activity e.g. the word "Bäcker" - engl. "baker" - could be written as "Bäcker*in" or "Backende" (from "backen", the verb), depending on the speaker. Note that the gerund form eliminates conveying info about gender, unlike an "universal" marker like *in. [1] for plural forms, those are expanded to -*innen, -_innen and -Innen