Dennis Baron, "What's Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She" (Liveright, 2020)
Today Dennis Baron talks about his new book What's Your Pronoun?: Beyond He & She (Liveright, 2020). Baron is professor emeritus in English at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has written many books about language and its connection to culture. What\u2019s Your Pronoun addresses an important cultural question about women\u2019s rights and the rights and identities of non-binary people, and reveals how we got from he and she to zie, hir, and singular they. Pronouns have sparked a national (and international) debate, prompting new policies about what pronouns to use in schools, workplaces and even prisons. Baron describes the historical context of singular they, how the use of generic he was both used to assert women\u2019s suffrage and to deny it, and the use of neo-pronouns throughout the centuries.\xa0What\u2019s Your Pronoun? chronicles the role that pronouns play in establishing our rights and identities. Indeed, the relevance of the question \u201cwhat\u2019s your pronoun\u201d throughout English\u2019s history may surprise you.\nCarrie Gillon is a linguist, editor and writing coach, working in the academic and healthcare sectors. She\u2019s the author of The Semantics of Determiners (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2103) and the co-author of Nominal Contact in Michif (Oxford University Press, 2018). She is also the co-host of the podcast The Vocal Fries, a biweekly podcast about linguistic discrimination (or why judging language is not OK).\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law