THE GENDER-NEUTRAL THIRD-PERSON PERSONAL PRONOUN HEN IN CONTINENTAL SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES
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St Petersburg State University
Abstract
The article examines the peculiarities of the use of the new pronoun hen in the three
continental Scandinavian languages. Discussions about gender-neutral pronouns originated
in the 1960s, when the debates about gender equality and women’s rights were
under way in Scandinavia. Different variants of the new gender-neutral pronoun were
proposed. Owing to its phonetic resemblance to the original Scandinavian pronouns, the
form hen was in favour over other options, but in those years it did not gain wide currency.
In the 21st century, owing to the development of gender concepts and a different
view on gender identity, the attitude to hen has changed. In 2015, the pronoun hen was
incorporated in the 14th edition of the Swedish Academy Dictionary (SAOL), in 2021 it was
recorded in the explanatory dictionary of the Swedish language released by the Swedish
Academy (Svensk Ordbok), but though already codified, it is far from being accepted by
everybody in the Swedish society. In Norway, the pronoun hen was entered into the Norwegian
language dictionaries in June 2022, but ever since theologians have been engaged
in a heated debate about its eventual use in the Bible. In Denmark, the pronoun hen, still uncodified, is mainly used in relation to non-binary persons, yielding in frequency to the
pronoun de in the same function.