Accepting "they" as Both Plural and Singular

By Amy S. Johnson

“Like life forms, languages are always changing.” (McWhorter, 1998, p. 123)

The lack of a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun is a problem that has existed since Middle English. It should be noted, though, that even great writers from the past chose to use they as a singular pronoun.

[It was] a normal pattern in English that was established four centuries before the 18th century grammarians invented the solecism. The plural pronoun [they] 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 (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

The following examples date as far back as the 14th century.

“The righteous man … that taketh not their life in vain––Pearl, ca. 1380 (spelling modernized)

There’s not a man I meet…As if I were their well-acquainted friend––Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, 1593” (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

“Tell each student to turn in their homework.”

                               https://pixabay.com/en/board-school-blackboard-chalk-font-64269/

The lack of a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun is a problem that has existed since Middle English: “And whoso fyndeth hym out of swich blame, They wol come up…Chaucer, ‘The Pardoner’s Prologue’ ca. 1395 (in Jespersen)” (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 901).

The use of the traditional pronoun he, his, him, goes back to the 18th century grammarians who boxed themselves into the position by first deciding that the indefinite pronouns must always be singular. They then had to decide between the masculine and feminine singular pronouns for use in reference to the indefinites, and they chose the masculine (they were, of course, all men) (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

Great writers from the past used they as a singular pronoun.

[It was] a normal pattern in English that was established four centuries before the 18^th- century grammarians invented the solecism. 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 (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

The following examples date as far back as the 14th century.

“The righteous man … that taketh not their life in vain––Pearl, ca. 1380 (spelling modernized)

There’s not a man I meet…As if I were their well-acquainted friend––Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, 1593” (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, 1994, p. 902).

This linguistic problem could be considered one of “ad fontes” where linguists are going back to the sources to prove that the lack of a gender-neutral singular pronoun is not an issue brought to light only because of the feminist movement of the ‘70s.

The problems surrounding the invention of the printing press are analogous to our present-day problem with using they, their, and them as singular pronouns. The English-speaking world doesn’t seem to have a problem with using they when it speaks, but as soon as it goes to print, it goes “prescriptivist” and starts spouting off what the grammarians insisted on in the 18th century.

According to linguist John McWhorter(1998), “The only thing keeping us from taking advantage of it [singular they] has been the power of the prescriptivist hoax, starting with Lowth and Murray’s inevitable whacks at it back in the 1700s” (p. 124).

Hot Spots in Linguistics and Editing

                                         https://pixabay.com/en/girl-english-dictionary-study-2771936/

•   The feminist movement of the ‘70s caused an awareness of the need for a singular neutral pronoun in the English language. Many other languages have a neutral pronoun for both singular and plural. Pronouns are considered a “closed class” and therefore are not something easily changed. Many attempts were made at creating a new pronoun but none were accepted by the English-speaking world. The easiest solution would be to use “they” as our singular neutral pronoun, but not everyone agrees. The linguist John McWhorter says, “English speakers have been using ‘they’ in the singular for eons.” Regardless of this fact, there is still argument as to whether or not it is acceptable because “they” is a plural pronoun being used for a singular antecedent in a sentence like, “Tell each student to hand in their homework.”

   https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/14/opinions/mcwhorter-pronouns-gender-neutral/index.html

•   The “Oxford comma” is still a point of debate in the editing world. The Chicago Manual of Style insists on its use, but other style guides, such as the Associated Press, do not use it. Those who insist on it can prove that if it is not used in a series of items, then there can be confusion as to what the author is trying to convey. 

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/what-is-the-oxford-comma-and-why-do-people-care-so-much-about-it/

•   Language “death” is a concern in the linguistic world. Many linguists are passionate about saving the languages throughout the world that are dying off at alarming rates. Others feel that there is nothing that can be done about it, and that it appears to be a hopeless task. The world renown linguist David Crystal looks at both sides of this issue in his book Language Death.

Crystal, D. (2000, 2014). Language Death. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge        University Press. 

The issue that I am most passionate about is the need for a singular neutral pronoun. I have been studying linguistics and linguistic change for over five years. The most important thing I’ve learned is than language changes. If we have been using “they” as a singular neutral pronoun for hundreds of years, then why are we still arguing about whether or not we can use it as such? Just because it is technically plural is not reason enough to decide that it can’t also be used as a singular pronoun: we’re already using it that way anyway!