Contextualizing one of the most pressing cultural questions of our generation, Dennis Baron reveals the untold story of how we got from he and she to zie and hir and singular- they.
Based on decades of research, Baron’s masterly work documents the historical and continued importance of personal pronouns. Those interested in gender politics or English grammar, or who feel that 'he' and 'she' are inadequate, would benefit greatly from perusing this book.
After this slightly forced attempt at with-itness, What’s Your Pronoun? settles down into a scrupulous and absorbing survey. Its great virtue is to show that these issues are nothing new ... Baron’s book layers on rather too many examples of historical usage, including a 60-page 'chronology of gender-neutral and nonbinary pronouns' at the end. This scholarly assiduousness, though, also makes him the ideal pilot through these contentious political-linguistic waters. If you want to know why more people are asking 'what’s your pronoun?' then you (singular or plural) should read this book.
If it is true, as Baron declares, that 'Pronouns are suddenly sexy,' then his nearly 300 pages devoted to that part of speech must be X-rated! But, alas, there’s nothing especially titillating here ... While he gives attention to current circumstances, he spends more time on a deep dive all the way back to the first English grammars of the seventeenth century, evidencing that his quest is hardly new. He doesn’t limit his search to history, however; he eventually turns his attention to the political controversies that have brought pronouns into the limelight, ending his search with the declaration that the missing word is (drumroll, please) the singular they. He concludes with a flourish: an überambitious, 58-page chronology of gender-neutral and nonbinary pronouns. Esoteric? Yes, but catnip for the grammarian, especially the culturally and politically conscious variety.
