The definitional dilemma of gender in language

Abstract

Current theories of linguistic gender define any language with a requisite system of nominal classification as having gender, in turn defining languages that manifest gendered distinctions in other ways as genderless. These definitionsfail to capture the many ways that binary gender can be encoded in the grammar and lexicon crosslinguistically.Drawing from data on twelve typologically distinct languages, I argue that a reimagined theory of gender in language which centers the concept of social gender must be constructed in order to empirically situate the concept of gender-inclusivelanguage. Data on the realization of gender-inclusivity in different languages is essential in this task, as it identifies the features of language that speakers determine to mark gender and signals the capacity of a gendered language to change.