<div dir="ltr">Greetings list,<div><br></div><div>I am uncomfortable with some of the opinions about grammatical constructions that have recently been posted. Dimitar Ninov's sentence D is technically grammatically correct. "They" can be used as a singular gender-neutral pronoun and it has been in use since the 17th-century. I should note that it's not necessarily gender neutral because of politically correctness, but it is gender neutral because the gender is not known. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Maybe because most of us are familiar with Strunk and White, we make the judgment that they <i>cannot</i> be used as such and thus is an "abomination" and "grammatically incorrect." However, at times I feel like Strunk and White (and other authoritative sources on grammar) feel extremely dated in this situation. English does not have dedicated singular personal pronoun for indeterminate gender. They has been substituted in this situation. For more information, the Wikipedia page is actually extremely thorough on the singular they. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>Frankly, anyone should be able to use the singular they if <u>they</u> want to. :)<br></div><div><br></div><div>I find that the war against the usage of the singular they is actually very similar to the war against ending sentences with prepositions. It wasn't a rule that sentences should not end with prepositions until John Dryden decided it was poor English to do so. And it stuck! </div>
<div><br></div><div>I would like to express that I think Rob Schultz's solution to this problem is ultimately the best solution. Rephrasing can go a long way in fixing many of these problems. But sometimes, they may be unavoidable. One should not frown on these situations.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div class="gmail_extra"><div><div><b><br>Devin Chaloux</b></div>
<div><font size="1">Indiana University</font></div><div><font size="1">Ph.D. in Music Theory (enrolled)</font></div><div><font size="1">University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music</font></div>
<div><font size="1">M.M. in Music Theory '12</font></div>
<div><font size="1">University of Connecticut</font></div>
<div><font size="1">B.M. in Music Theory '10</font></div>
</div>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 10:56 PM, Victor grauer <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:victorag@verizon.net" target="_blank">victorag@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:10pt"><div><div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:10pt">
<div class=""><div><br clear="none">"D. Poor student, they do not know what to expect."</div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;background-color:transparent;font-style:normal">
<br clear="none"></div></div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:13.3333px;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;background-color:transparent;font-style:normal">I agree with Dr.
Ninov regarding the inappropriateness of the above sentence. I'll go farther -- such constructions are imo an abomination and should not be tolerated. At the same time I also agree with those arguing for the elimination, wherever possible, of
language that others would reasonably consider offensive, such as the use of so-called "sexist" constructions. I agree with both Dr. Ninov and Dr. Bain that there is no point in rewriting historical texts, but there IS a point in being as sensitive as possible to the feelings of others when constructing contemporary texts. <br>
<br>What we must be willing to accept, however, is that certain "sexist" constructions are built into most languages and can often be very difficult to eliminate completely without producing gibberish. The example raised concerning the role of gender in French speaks for itself. There is no way anyone could get around that without radically altering the language itself. In English, however, we do have some options.<br>
<br>There is almost always a way to sidestep the problem by, for example, substituting a construction such as "It is important for every student to carefully prepare his essay" with "It is important for all students
to carefully prepare their essays." But imo it is NOT acceptable to write "It is important for every student to carefully prepare their essay." I see that kind of thing far too often and cringe each and every time. And each time it shaves approximately 10 minutes from my life. If I read too much "gender neutral" language of this kind I could pass away long before my time!<br>
<br clear="none"></div><div><div class="h5"><div><div style="display:block"> <div style="font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif;font-size:10pt"> <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,'Lucida Grande',sans-serif;font-size:12pt">
<div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial"> On Thursday, May 1, 2014 9:02 PM,
"Ninov, Dimitar N" <<a href="mailto:dn16@txstate.edu" target="_blank">dn16@txstate.edu</a>> wrote:<br clear="none"> </font> </div> <blockquote> <div>Dear Jennifer,<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Thanks for the nice letter and clarifications. I personally apologize to you for having caused such an emotional turmoil in your mind.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">The few last things I want to
add in relation to gender language, are: <br clear="none"><br clear="none">1) My main point has never been about discrimination versus non discrimination; it has been about aesthetics in the construction of the literary sentence, and the necessary freedom to accommodate fluent language.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">2) I find the word "sexist" ugly per se. When it is thrown at someone like condemnation, it already smells like the dark ages of the Spanish Inquisition and predetermines the destiny of the poor fellow - to burn at the stake. I would never use officially terms such as "sexist" or "non sexist", even if I were an editor who provides directions as of how to write correctly. For such purposes I would use "specific gender language" versus "general gender language".<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">3) I maintain that an author has to have freedom in dealing with literary language. For example, I would accept any of
the four versions of the following sentence: A. Poor student, he does not know what to expect. B. Poor student, she does not know what to expect C. Poor student, he or she does not know what to expect. and D. Poor student, they do not know what to expect. For me, D is most objectionable, because it contains conspicuous disagreement between the noun and the pronoun. After that, C has a little glitch because the direction of motion is twisted for an instant by the superfluous repetition of the pronoun. Having said that, I think these considerations shall be left to the discretion of the writer.<br clear="none">
<br clear="none">4) I believe that, no matter what the official policy of a publisher is, quotations of original passages shall not be edited in terms of gender language, because this would be the end of professionalism and the beginning of self-embarrassment for those who cripple
original works in this manner.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Thank you for your understanding.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Best regards,<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Dimitar<br clear="none"><br clear="none">
<br clear="none">Dr. Dimitar Ninov, Lecturer<br clear="none">School of Music<br clear="none">Texas State University<br clear="none">601 University Drive<br clear="none">San Marcos, Texas 78666<br clear="none">_______________________________________________<br clear="none">
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