BY LETTER
Pronouns, Anglish
 Image from Steve Bowers |
A number of new pronouns became current in Early and Middle Anglic and descended languages as new kinds of sophont being became common. He, she, it, and the plural forms were used just as they had been in Old Anglic and its ancestral English. However, some very general pronouns (e, em, eir, eirs, and eirself) were used for all sophont beings without regard to number, gender, or category, and another set (per, pers, and perself) was used to distinguish individual sentient beings without regard to gender or type. Sophont hermaphrodites had a unique set of pronouns (se, hir, hirs, hirself) as did nonsexual sophonts (je, jer, jers, jerself). Virtual sophont beings were sometimes also distinguished (ve, ver, veir, vers, verself) as were non-Terragen sentients (xe, xer, xeir, xers, xerself), especially if the other more specific pronoun sets could not be accurately applied.
| non- specific pronoun | non- gender- specific personal pronoun | male and ferm | female and merm | hemoth (hermaph- rodite) | neut (nonsexual person) | object (non- person) | |
| subjective | e / ey | per | he | she | se | je | it |
| objective | em | per | him | her | hir | jer | it |
| possessive adjective | eir | pers | his | hers | hirs | jers | its |
| possessive pronoun | eirs | pers | his | hers | hirs | jers | its |
| reflexive | emself or eirself | perself | himself | herself | hirself | jerself | itself |
| non- gender- specific virtual entity | non- gender- specific alien entity | plural (generic) | |
| subjective | ve | xe | they |
| objective | ver | xer | them |
| possessive adjective | veir | xeir | their |
| possessive pronoun | vers | xers | theirs |
| reflexive | verself | xerself | themselves or theirselves |
 Image from Bernd Helfert and Steve Bowers |
Common Aspects of Biological Sexes
The following table should only be used as a rule of thumb for identification and use of biological sex, primarily for hominid, or at least mammalian, clades.| Can naturally bear children? (ie, has female primary sexual characteristics) | Can naturally contribute genetic material to others' borne offspring? (ie, has male primary sexual characteristics) | Has female secondary sex characteristics? (eg, in humans, enlarged breasts and lack of facial hair. Non-hominid clades often use a different variety of features to make this differentiation: manes, tusks, antlers, colours, etc.) | |
| herm | yes | yes | yes |
| herm | yes | yes | no |
| female | yes | no | yes |
| ferm | yes | no | no |
| merm | no | yes | yes |
| male | no | yes | no |
| neut | no | no | yes |
| neut | no | no | no |
Definitions
Biological Sex
Sex refers to a set of biological, or embodied attributes in presapient, modosophont and some transapient creatures. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy. Sexes are frequently categorized as "asexual", "female", "male", "hermaphrodite", or a variety of other types used for natural reproduction. Clades using more decentralized reproductive systems, especially non-biological clades using assembly-line processes, often use a more modular approach. In most developed sephirotic societies, the possibilities of morphological freedom allow sophonts to achieve any desired combination of features, which may or may not match their gender identity, or necessarily be used for reproduction, for a variety of reasons. Sophonts can also easily change their sex over short or long timespans to align with, or diverge from, their own gender identity or their culture's gender roles (if it maintains any) as well.Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation is a pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of a different sex, gender, or species, the same sex, gender, or species, or a variety of sexes, genders, or species. These attractions may be categorized under the concepts of heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, (species)sexuality, pansexuality, omnisexuality, polysexuality or asexuality.Gender
Gender refers to the social roles, behaviours, psychological expressions and identities generally associated with reproductive instincts or programming for sophonts who experience and use these concepts. It sometimes influences how sophonts perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, social and behavioral expectations they're assigned, and may affect the distribution of power and resources in some (usually primitive) societies. Gender identity is rarely confined to a binary (masculine/ feminine, etc) or even necessarily the six genders identified with the six standard Anglish pronouns (male, female, herm, merm, ferm, neut), nor is it static; it exists across a conceptual landscape and individuals can change their identities and expression over time, sometimes over years, sometimes day to day, sometimes moment to moment. There is considerable diversity in how individuals and groups understand, experience and express gender through the roles they take on, the expectations placed on them, relations with others and the complex ways that gender is institutionalized in society.Some clades use complex gender systems that diverge from the six standard hu genders. For example, the Tensepathraa, a clade of insectoid neogens, were designed with no less than 17 sexes by their creators, a team of bioartists from the Zoeific Biopolity. Each offspring has anywhere from 4 to 9 parents, with a complex system of compatibility describing which matings and in what order result in reproduction. Their language has corresponding declined forms for each gender.
Many other clades and societies do not have genders. This phenomenon is common amongst nonbionts, vecs and aioids, groups who may find categorization based on traits associated with having certain sexual organs (instead of, say, based on age or occupation or operating system) to be farcical.
In the vast majority of Sephirotic and associated societies, though a sophont may have a gender, they are not restricted by it. In some other societies, especially those outside the Civilized Galaxy and dominated by bionts, gender roles may exist with varying degrees of rigidity.
Even when an individual can be classified under one of the six standard hu genders, the grammatical pronoun used may not necessarily correspond to the 'standard' gender they are classed under. If contrary to the category placed in according to the table, individual or cultural idiosyncratic preferences for gender-specific pronouns should be given priority over the standard usage. It is common advice that one should never correct the chosen grammatical gender based on the standard, since in many Terragen cultures this can be considered offensive to varying degrees. Most citizens use "public profiles" or "metadata" that anyone's DNIs can incorporate into understanding new people consciously or unconsciously, at a glance. Most introduction and identification protocols will indicate the correct gender, if one is used.
Related Articles
- Ferm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Daniel Eliot Boese
One of six standard hu Sexes, the others being male, herm, merm, female, and neut. A Ferm has male secondary sexual characteristics and female sexual organs. - Herm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Daniel Eliot Boese
Hermaphrodite, one of six standard hu sexes and genders, the others being male, merm, ferm, female, and neut. Herms have both male and female sexual organs, but their secondary sexual characteristics vary from individual to individual, ranging from fully male to fully female or a mixture between the two. - Merm - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Daniel Eliot Boese
One of six standard hu sexes, the others being male, herm, ferm, female, and neut. A merm is a male individual with the secondary sexual characteristics of a female. - Neut - Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Daniel Eliot Boese, Steve Bowers
One of six standard hu sexes and genders, the others being female, ferm, herm, merm, and male. Neuts have reduced their genitalia and secondary sexual characteristics to an undeveloped state, or removed them altogether. - Pangender, Pangenderic - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A biont that incorporates at the same time the whole range of genders and sexual modes - male, female, herm, ferm, etc. - Sex and Sexuality
Appears in Topics
Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev, Daniel Eliot Boese, Mark Ryherd, Stephen Inniss and Steve Bowers
Initially published on 06 March 2001.
Some of the pronouns in this article are copies or adaptations of the Spivak pronouns.
Updated August 2020 by Dfleymmes
Initially published on 06 March 2001.
Some of the pronouns in this article are copies or adaptations of the Spivak pronouns.
Updated August 2020 by Dfleymmes
