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From: comm@zeus.bris.ac.uk (M. Murray)
Subject: Re: sexist language
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Date: Wed, 2 Oct 1996 18:06:33 GMT
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Mark Obrembalski (markobr@pcnet.hrz1.uni-oldenburg.de) wrote:

: No, you can in fact write good, gender-neutral German - simply use all 
: forms. "Verkufer und Verkuferinnen..." or "Eine Verkuferin oder ein 
: Verkufer...". There are also forms like "VerkuferInnen" which means 
: "Verkuferinnen und Verkufer". Although these forms are not to be found 
: in German grammars, they are quite commen, especially in the 
: German-speaking part of Swizerland.
: 
: Mark

Only a German could pretend that usage like "Verkufer und Verkuferinnen"
is good. From a non-sexist viewpoint maybe, but from the aspect of
conciseness it is awful. And as someone elsewhere has pointed out,
"VerkuferInnen" can only be considered non-sexist in the written form,
where the capital I in the middle of a word breaks all sorts of rules. In
the spoken form "VerkuferInnen" is identical with "Verkuferinnen", which
is an indubitably feminine form, and therefore in no way gender-neutral. 

Ah, I've just noticed that Mark said "you can WRITE good gender-neutral
German". How does he suggest we SPEAK it? 

-- 
Martin Murray :: School of Chemistry, Bristol University, BS8 1TS, England
