Date:  Fri, 22 Sep 1995 14:16:40 -0500

From:  wachal robert s <rwachal[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BLUE.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU>

Subject: copy-ed re web usage urrl (fwd)



              COPYEDITING-L Digest 1088



 -----------------------------



Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 23:09:24 -0500

From: "Keith Calvert Ivey" <kcivey[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cpcug.org>

To: COPYEDITING-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cornell.edu

Subject: Re: "they" as the new gender neutral pronoun

Message-ID: <199509220307.XAA23057[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cpcug.org>



Jordana Kanee Signer <jkaneesigner[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]inforamp.net> writes:



>Personally, I think that "they" should always take a plural

>verb. Other languages that use pronouns interchangeably as

>either singular or plural, depending on the context, always

>conjugate the verb in the plural. E.g. "Vous" in French is

>always conjugated the same way (root + "ez", e.g. "chantez"),



You don't need to go to other languages for examples. The

English pronoun "you" was originally plural only. Now it's

plural and singular, but the verb is still plural. I see no

reason to believe that "they" will behave differently if it

becomes standard as a singular. "They is" doesn't seem to be

catching on.



The only change I think likely with singular "they" is the

development of the reflexive "themself" (versus "themselves"

in the plural), parallel to "yourself".



Keith C. Ivey <kcivey[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cpcug.org>

Washington, DC

English Usage Page  http://www.webcom.com/kcivey/engusage/

The Editorial Eye   http://www.eei-alex.com/eye/



 -----------------------------



End of COPYEDITING-L Digest 1088

********************************