Sweden has long been progressive on gender egalitarianism, and now its language is officially catching up. A gender-neutral pronoun, hen will join its binary counterparts han (he) and hon (she) in the new edition of Sweden’s official dictionary, helping Swedish speakers avoid the sort of linguistic gymnastics common in languages without a gender-neutral alternative.
Efficient in a variety of situations, hen, as AFP notes, can be used when you don’t know the gender identity of the person in question, when the person is transgender, when you don’t want to reveal a gender identity, or when gender identity simply seems irrelevant in context. It is one of 13,000 new words chosen by the Swedish Academy for inclusion in its updated dictionary, which will be made available on April 15. (Founded in 1786, the Swedish Academy is an independent cultural institution that works to uphold the “purity, vigor and majesty” of the Swedish language.) More.
See: Quartz
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Peru
Local time: 08:10
English to Swedish
+ ...
Second, the only motivation ... See more
Second, the only motivation for the introduction of the word is gender-political: it is not based on (i) a real linguistic need or (ii) new developments of the linguistic environment (e.g. new technologies, new cultural or social phenomena etc.) or (iii) an analysis of actual linguistic practice.
Third, the form of the word is bad. It's difficult to pronounce and will easily be confused with "han".
Fourth, while gender equality supposedly is the reason behind the word, it's not clear what the word really has to do with gender equality. A neutral pronoun neither generates nor reflects increased equality between men and women. There's no gender inequality in referring to a person whose gender is unknown as "han eller hon".
If the word is really used by a large portion of Swedish speakers (and not just by a politically orthodox subculture), then it would be appropriate to add it to the official dictionary, but it's not ok to add a new word just to promote some particular politics.
[Edited at 2015-03-28 11:20 GMT]
[Edited at 2015-03-28 11:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Sweden
Local time: 15:10
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
A lot of my work consists of translating manuals from German into Swedish. These texts are crammed with instructions like: The operator must xxx, he must also xxx xxx. And every single time I think about the poor women, and yes there are quite a few, who are ma... See more
A lot of my work consists of translating manuals from German into Swedish. These texts are crammed with instructions like: The operator must xxx, he must also xxx xxx. And every single time I think about the poor women, and yes there are quite a few, who are made completely invisible. You might not think it’s a big deal, but that’s because you’re not on the receiving end.
Using your suggestions I could, of course type han eller hon (he or she), personen i fråga (the person concerned) or what not… But how much simpler it would be to simply type hen! And why on earth should we confuse hen with han, when we have managed to distinguish between han and hon? ▲ Collapse
Local time: 15:10
Swedish to English
It appears to be a step in what is referred to as feminism.
When will someone introduce masculinism in an attempt to achieve equality between the sexes?
Translating into English is usually a piece of cake. (Source: Collins English Dictionary).
he refers to a person or animal of unknown or ... See more
It appears to be a step in what is referred to as feminism.
When will someone introduce masculinism in an attempt to achieve equality between the sexes?
Translating into English is usually a piece of cake. (Source: Collins English Dictionary).
he refers to a person or animal of unknown or unspecified sex.
she refers to a female person or animal.
A lot of people don't know that. ▲ Collapse
Spain
Local time: 15:10
Spanish to English
+ ...
The fact that grammatical gender and physical gender are not the same thing appears to have escaped these luminaries. One wonders if they have nothing more important to do with their time.
Local time: 15:10
Swedish to English
Perhaps you can explain for us?
Denmark
Local time: 15:10
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
I am in favour at least in principle. Where gender is irrelevant - as in machine operators, decision makers in most cases, and so much of public life, then why cloud the issue?
... See more
I am in favour at least in principle. Where gender is irrelevant - as in machine operators, decision makers in most cases, and so much of public life, then why cloud the issue?
The only problem I have with it is that gender should not be obliterated where it is relevant.
In discussions about parental leave, for instance, there are biological considerations that affect the health of parent and child if the child-bearing, breast-feeding parent is not distinguished from the other one, who legally can be anywhere on the gender scale these days.
I think it is important to allow children to develop real, varying gender identities, while accepting that all are equally valid. If the majority are more or less conventional heteros (male or female), well, that is how many species function, so why not ours?
At the same time, as one who has often rebelled against conventional roles assigned to me, I will always assert that individuals must be accepted as they are, as long as they do not violate others. ▲ Collapse
Australia
Local time: 23:10
Member (2008)
English to Russian
+ ...
If the word is really used by a large portion of Swedish speakers (and not just by a politically orthodox subculture), then it would be appropriate to add it to the official dictionary, but it's not ok to add a new word just to promote some particular politics.
I totally agree with you, Thomas. This pronoun has been invented only to promote some political ideas. Nothing in either language itself, either in society reflects a need for it.
Local time: 15:10
German to French
possessive hans/hennes/.... ?
United States
Local time: 06:10
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
A lot of my work consists of translating manuals from German into Swedish. These texts are crammed with instructions like: The operator must xxx, he must also xxx xxx.
The operator must xxx, and must also xxx xxx.
Sweden
Local time: 15:10
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
Of course there are other solutions, and I would be a poor translator indeed if I couldn't find them! My point was simply that it is a handy word and that I really don't understand all the fuss and resentment it’s creating.
Addition:
You actually pinpointed what the word is all about: there should be no need for “solutions”, awkward constructions or focus on gender. Just use a simple hen.
[Edited at 2015-04-03 15:33 GMT]
Sweden
Local time: 15:10
Member (2008)
German to Swedish
+ ...
I don’t really see what English has to do with this topic. The Swedish word hen has nothing to do with hens and chickens, nor does the Swedish word barn have anything to do with buildings. It’s merely an attempt to make *both* sexes the norm, not only the male one. Why, oh why, is that so threatening?
And on the subject of hens and chickens: Happy Easter everyone!
[Edited at 2015-04-02 08:52 GMT]
Sweden
English to Swedish
+ ...
I agree with Vera! There are many useful areas for this word, and not only among politically orthodox sub-cultures.
In this discussion, it seems like swedish-speaking people living in Sweden find it useful, other people not, and that is perfectly fine, I guess. I can understand why a english-speaking person would find it "silly", it is the same reaction as when a german-speaking person hears the swedish word for torch.
Ulrika
France
Local time: 15:10
French to English
+ ...
I'm an English-speaking person and I wish English had a similar construction. It would save all the ugliness of [s]he and he/she and all similar devices.
People found Ms. odd when it was first used but it's pretty widely used now.
Sweden
Local time: 15:10
Member (2003)
English to Swedish
+ ...
"hen" is obviously inspired by Finnish "hän" which refers to humans of unspecified gender, and if I ever use this word I will probably spell it the Finnish way. Usage will of course determine, though I for one will continue to use "han eller hon" where appropriate.
Speaking of words we need, how about finally creating a term for respectful address in Swedish (Italian Lei, German Sie, Danish De) ???
Sweden
Local time: 15:10
English to Russian
+ ...
I was a little sceptical to it at first, but now I generally find it very useful in informal situations. I would be reluctant to use in writing though.
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