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In the German language, there is a grammatical rule that is called Generisches Maskulinum (English: generic masculine). It says that when you want to address a group that consists of people of both genders, you only use the male word even though you know there are females there.

German examples:

  • Der Lehrer - the teacher (male)
  • Die Lehrerin - the teacher (female)
  • Die Lehrer - the teachers (only male, or male and female)
  • Die Lehrerinnen - the teachers (only female)

If I want to write a text about a person whose gender is unknown, is it semantically (not opinion based) okay just to call them a "he" or is it semantically wrong?

Note: I do not want to her opinions about "gender equality" or something like that. I only want to know if it is semantically correct to only use the male form for a generic person whose sex does not matter.

tchrist
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Henry Weinert
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    Unfortunately this is not a question which can be answered with grammar. Grammar consists of syntax and morphology, which concern themselves with the relations of parts of speech in a sentence and the inflection of words respectively. Grammar has nothing to say on the the topic of semantics; it merely shifts around opaque symbols. The fields of linguistics which concern themselves with meaning are semantics and pragmatics. Semantics is mostly descriptive; we are left with pragmatics. And pragmatics starts to pick up opinions. There is no right or wrong answer; there is only accepted and not. – Dan Bron Jan 19 '18 at 17:21
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    And in contemporary society, the acceptability of a masculine default has waned significantly. It is often excoriated. So that’s really the only answer you can appeal to, and there is no grammatical defense against the pragmatics which have turned against using the default masculine. – Dan Bron Jan 19 '18 at 17:23
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    Thank you for the answer, Dan Bron. I have corrected my post. For example in Germany, the gender equal way to write or say something is often seen as wiry. Officially this opinion gets supported, but the most germans dont like this topic. Also, the use of gender neutral forms in the german language are mostly grammatically wrong. One example would be replacing the word "Autofahrer" with "Autofahrer/innen". The last one is wrong. Also I want to keep a written story simple and dont want to stretch it with post-modern rigmaroles, especially in german it could get very complex. – Henry Weinert Jan 19 '18 at 17:24
  • I already addressed the question of semantics. Please pay attention. Semantics can’t tell you “right” or “wrong”; at best, semantics can distinguish sense from nonsense. The sentence “all cows are purple” isn’t semantically wrong, it’s empirically wrong, but semantically just fine. Linguistics as a field of study is incapable of supplying with you with an argument for or defense of androcentrism. No more than astronomy can. In fact, the very existence of words like “androcentrism” and “andronormativity” is evidence of this reality. You’re looking in the wrong place. You need philosophy. – Dan Bron Jan 19 '18 at 17:30
  • "is it semantically (not opinion based) okay just to call him a "he" or is it semantically wrong?" ... you did when you said "him". :-) I corrected some spelling in the question too. Correct=right, pen to paper=write, keyboard player for Pink Floyd=Wright. – jimm101 Jan 19 '18 at 17:31
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    Dan Bron, I think we both see the problem. In the german language, there is the rule of the generic masculinum. So in german you can definetily say that the double nomination is wrong. But I dont find a similar rule in the english language. Maybe there is none. So this would be the answer. From this one could you conclude, that the sole mention of the male form is in the eyes of some reluctant, but still correct, right? – Henry Weinert Jan 19 '18 at 17:36
  • (Also, to be clear, the field of linguistics also can’t supply you with an argument for or defense of gender neutral language either. Language simply doesn’t govern such choices; people do.) – Dan Bron Jan 19 '18 at 17:37
  • If you look up the posts dealing with 'gender-neutral pronouns' here, you will see the efforts that have been made to achieve a gender-neutral option where sensible and/or non-prejudicial. 'The murderer made their escape through this window.' / 'The successful candidate will take up their post in June.' Terms like 'chairwoman' / 'actress' / 'meter maid', where artificial dichotomies lending themselves to loss of respect for females, are usually eschewed nowadays. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 19 '18 at 17:43
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    @HenryWeinert English doesn’t inflect for gender, if that’s what you’re asking. But it does inflect for number, and still they is used for the singular; it always has done so, but increasingly so in recent decades for the gender-equality reason. That is, though in English, they usually only agrees with the third person, now it also agrees with the first person, so that’s part of English’s grammar. If Germans increasingly inflect words with new endings, then in a few years, the grammar of German will also accept these endings (grammar describes how people actually structure sentences). – Dan Bron Jan 19 '18 at 17:44
  • You may certainly use he if you like. No one call it wrong, for the same reason no one can call “she” wrong. Language has no opinion on this matter. It’s a matter of style (pragmatics). – Dan Bron Jan 19 '18 at 17:46
  • The invention of new gender-equitable expressions leads to great problems in the German language. Moreover, misusing words is often misunderstood today as a justified change of word. In addition, languages are not consciously forced "changed" as it happens today, but unconsciously. In addition, the words nurse should be an insult, I consider nonsense, which I have never read before. In what way should it be an insult? Women are naturally different in nature from men, and take other professions, often also no profession to care for the children, hence the corresponding words. – Henry Weinert Jan 19 '18 at 17:51
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    But thank you for the answer. I could not read it because of writing the last comment. I would say that the question is now answered. – Henry Weinert Jan 19 '18 at 17:52
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    A petit tour of gendered pronoun questions should include Is using “he” for a gender-neutral third-person correct?; Is “guy” gender-neutral?; Reason for the current trend to use “she” as the gender-neutral pronoun?; and Gender-neutral alternative to “craftsmanship”?. – choster Jan 19 '18 at 18:29
  • There is no official definition of what is “semantically correct” or “semantically wrong” in English, so this question cannot be answered except with opinions unless it is made more precise. – herisson Jan 19 '18 at 18:54
  • Possible duplicate of Is using "he" for a gender-neutral third-person correct? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jan 20 '18 at 02:01
  • @Dan While I agree with most you say, “though in English, they usually only agrees with the third person, now it also agrees with the first person” doesn’t make sense to me. First person is I and we, and I cannot conceive of any context where they is used to mean either of those two, or agrees with first-person verb forms, apart of course from those cases where first-person and third-person-plural coincide in form, i.e., everywhere except the verb be (and there, “they am” and “they was” remains ungrammatical in Standard English). Did you mean to refer to plural/singular? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jan 20 '18 at 02:05
  • @JanusBahsJacquet You got it. – Dan Bron Jan 20 '18 at 02:13

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