Research into non-binary pronouns in the Frisian language

Most people won't give it a second thought. If you're a boy or a man, you're referred to as ‘he’. If you're a girl or a woman, you're referred to as ‘she’. The same goes for ‘him’ and ‘her’, and possessive ‘his’ and ‘hers’. But what if you fall somewhere between those categories? What if you don't like being referred to as ‘he’, or you don't feel comfortable with ‘her’? Or do you simply not want to emphasize the masculine or feminine?

It has been ten years since Sweden officially adopted the neutral pronoun ‘hen’ alongside the existing pronouns ‘han’ for men and ‘hon’ for women. In Dutch, ‘hen’ and ‘die’ are now fairly well established as non-binary pronouns. In English, ‘they’ and ‘them’ are used if you don't want to use ‘he’ or ‘she’, ‘him’ or ‘her’.

What about the Frisian language? This question has been asked several times to the Fryske Akademy. That is why the FA has now drawn up a survey on the use of non-binary pronouns in Frisian, to see what is happening in Fryslân in this area. What options are there?

Fryske Akademy
The Fryske Akademy has been conducting research into the Frisian language since 1938. Our scientists study the variation in Frisian today and in the past. Among other things, we look at how the language has changed over the centuries in a multilingual context, and how it is currently changing in sub-communities. Because in the end it is the users of a language who create and renew it.

Participate
This research is being conducted in collaboration with Regenboogalliantie Fryslân and COC Friesland. Fill in the survey here.

An inventory of the non-binary forms used in written Frisian has already been made.

With this study, the Fryske Akademy aims to identify which pronouns non-binary people use or feel comfortable with in the Frisian language. The results will be evaluated in collaboration with the Rainbow Alliance Fryslân and COC Friesland.