Plural pronouns
In class last week we discussed whether the use of plural pronouns to refer to one person was a recent phenomenon (ex: “If attacked, the victim should remain exactly where they are” instead of “If attacked, the victim should remain exactly where he or she is“). Turns out that the use of plural pronouns for singular objects (if the gender is unknown) is not new at all, but rather that the discouragement of it is, in fact, the new phenomenon (see last paragraph in the following quotation).
This was taken from Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (pages 901-903), after the authors provided quotations from Austen, Chaucer, Shaw, Auden, Shakespeare and others:
Uncategorized | Comments (4)“The examples here of the ‘great ones’ from Chaucer to the present are not lapses. They are uses following a normal pattern in English that was established four centuries before the 18th-century grammarians invented the solecism (whereby ‘he’ is to be used as the “gender-neutral” pronoun). The plural pronoun is one solution devised by native speakers of English to a grammatical problem inherent in that language — and it is by no means the worst solution.
They, their, them have been used continuously in singular reference for about six centuries, and have been disparaged in such use for about two centuries. Now the influence of social forces is making their use even more attractive.”
4 Responses to “Plural pronouns”
Leave a Reply
Subject-Verb Agreement
That’s not so in America, however. So we’re now ready to tackle the second question: whether it’s OK to use the plural pronouns their, them, and they to refer to everybody or everyone. American grammarians don’t agree on this issue. Some feel that if you can’t write, “Everyone are happy,” then you shouldn’t be able to write, “Everyone is putting a smile on THEIR face.” These grammarians cringe when they hear the word their used this way.
The root of this problem is that English doesn’t have a word to refer to a singular noun of undetermined gender. As a solution, grammarians in the past have suggested that writers use just his to refer to everyone or everybody, but most now consider this solution to be sexist. Some alternate his with her; some use the phrase his or her. But I can’t imagine most of you could comfortably utter the following sentence: “Everyone is putting a smile on his or her face.” Therefore, I don’t recommend you use this type of construction unless you want to sound like a crusty old curmudgeon.
Sticklers have to face reality, though. For example, noted grammarian Bryan Garner has this to say about writers’ tendencies to use their to refer to these singular pronouns: “Disturbing though these developments may be to purists, they’re irreversible. And nothing that a grammarian says will change them (2).”
from: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/indefinite-pronouns.aspx
This looks like an area of language change without a doubt. So, again from a socio perspective, it is acceptable. Let’s see if we can actually find the “rule”.
I think the “rule” says that it is not acceptable, but what my original post was trying to express is that the usage of plural pronouns in these situations is not a *recent* language change. We tend to think that using the masculine pronoun (he/his) in these situations is more traditional, and that the using the plural pronoun (they/their) is more recent, but this excerpt shows that in reality it is the opposite.
Language change happens over time. My guess is that it (pluralizing pronouns) is gaining in popularity and perhaps more widespread (age, sex etc).
Just like the upspeak or uptalk in women. If I remember correctly, there are examples from the 1940s, a spike in the 1980s and 1990s, continuing to the present. This variation seems to be found more in women (although some men do speak this way) and generally in younger speakers.