French dictionary under scrutiny for including gender-neutral word

The discussion is all about a three-letter word: ‘iel’. Translated, it is a combination of the pronouns he and she. According to the dictionary, ‘iel’ is a personal pronoun subject of the third person singular and plural, used to refer to a person of any gender. The use of the pronoun is inclusive communication. It is a combination of the French words “il” and “elle”.

Each month, the dictionary lexicographers monitor and scrutinise new words. In October, among the new words were ‘sanitary pass’, ‘antivax’, and the infamous ‘iel’. “We noticed that this word was growing in use. Therefore, we integrated it into our dictionary”, explains Marie-Hélène Drivaud, a lexicographer at Petit Robert, to French daily Le Figaro.

Skull

Drivaud does not think much of the fuss. “All our dictionaries have been inclusive for several years.” She gives an example with the word ‘hair’. “We have replaced ‘man’ by ‘human’. Thus, in the definition of ‘hair’, we no longer read ‘hair on the skull of a man’ but ‘skull of a human’.

However, a colleague of Drivaud, Bernard Cerquiglini, who is a lexicographer at Larousse, thinks the word should not even be in the dictionary since it is not a French word. According to Bernard Cerquiglini, it is an Anglicism. “The mistake of some feminists is to follow English which has a neutral. However, in French, we do not have any”, the lexicographer told Le Figaro.

Petit Robert came under scrutiny from numerous people. Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer denounced the move by the Petit Robert dictionary, supporting a lawmaker’s demand that French-language guardians at the Académie Française weigh in.

“Inclusive writing is not the future of the French language”, Blanquer wrote on Twitter. He added that students “who are consolidating their basic knowledge, cannot have that as a reference”.

Tyranny of minorities

The French essayist Lydia Guirous went even further on French broadcaster RTL. According to her, the move is made possible by a “tyranny of minorities, who want to impose on society things that seem completely superficial and unnecessary”.

According to Guirous, “children are the guinea pigs of wokism”. She explained that it is a danger for the French language learning because “30 to 40 per cent of the pupils in sixth grade have difficulties with writing and reading”.

François Jolivet, the MP for Indre, who is a member of Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche party, was also critical about the decision of the dictionary. He called Le Petit Robert’s authors “militants of a cause that has nothing French about it: wokism.”

He wrote of his dissatisfaction to the Académie Française, a leading authority for matters about the French language.

Paper

Although the word has been included in the online dictionary, it will take a while to reach the paper version. The integration of the word is planned for 2022.