Posted
The personal pronoun “iel” makes its entry into the digital edition of the Le Petit Robert dictionary. It is a contraction of “he” and “she” to become a neutral, non-gendered pronoun.
The personal pronoun “iel” appeared in the digital edition of the Le Petit Robert dictionary. Contraction of “he” and “she”, this little word puzzles some people, even disturbs them. “It makes writing less fluid“says a passer-by. This personal subject pronoun is used to refer to a person of any gender, according to its definition. This neutral word is thus used for people who do not recognize themselves in the feminine gender, nor in the masculine gender.
These three little letters triggered strong reactions. The deputy of the majority François Jolivet questioned the French Academy. He castigates in a letter “the solitary countryside of Petit Robert“, and “a manifest ideological intrusion that undermines our common language and its influence“. The Minister of National Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, gave his support to the deputy. In a press release, Le Petit Robert is satisfied to have sparked the debate. The pronoun” iel “should be included in the edition. 2022 paper.
all the news in video
Receive most of our news with our newsletter
Newsletter subscription
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you newsletters.
articles On the same topic
Seen from Europe
Every day, Franceinfo selects content from European public audiovisual media, members of Eurovision. These contents are published in English or French.