On the suitability of epicene pronoun “singular they»: linguocultural aspect

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of pronominal substitution of singular common gender nouns and indefinite pronouns in the English language. As for many contexts this problem remains unresolved, the cultural relevance of “singular they” as the epicene, or gender-neutral pronoun for third person singular use, in speech and writing is analyzed. This issue is briefly discussed in historical perspective, supported by the examples from famous literary works. The approach towards which epicene to use and what grammatical number it should be, is shown to have changed over time. Particular attention in the paper is paid to the present-day English. A survey of educated English speakers has proved that in order to eliminate gender prejudices modern society chooses “singular they”, using the language as a tool to demonstrate commitment to the idea of people’s equality. The attitudes of authoritative organizations to the choice of the pronoun referring to sex-indefinite singular antecedent are analyzed. They demonstrate current linguistic trends in the modern world. Even though the choice of the epicene for third-person singular use in contemporary English is commonly “singular they”, there remain restrictions imposed on the written pronoun paradigm.

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