Talk:Xe (pronoun)

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Pronounciation?

Could someone add info about pronounciation? As a non-native English speaker, I have no clue how to pronounce the leading x ("rhymes with" doesn't help there obviously). Thanks. 134.130.183.83 01:08, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I only use the word in writing not in speech and I don't know who invented the word so I don't know the "official" pronounciation. However, in English most words that start with x, the x is pronounced the way z is pronounced in English, so xe would sound like "zee". Actually, as far as I know, "zee" is another gender neutral pronoun that has been suggested. Q0 00:35, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Pretty sure it's actually "zhee", not "zee", as the intent is to be a blend between the "h" and "sh" sounds. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.187.97.25 (talk) 23:29, 8 June 2015 (UTC)

The letter z is only pronounced "zee" in American English. The British English pronunciation is "zed" which is most commonly used in English speaking countries . — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.42.62.195 (talk) 14:03, 24 June 2020 (UTC)

"xem" rhymes with "them"

I've removed text from the article that stated that the ubiquitous "some people" had argued "that since 'xem' appears to rhyme with 'them', removing the gender balance, it should be spelled as (or changed to) 'xim'", because it makes no sense. Rhyming with "them" does not remove gender balance. "them" is gender-neutral too. Uncle G 22:49:00, 2005-07-25 (UTC)

Origin

I have long since been using neutral pronouns of this manner. I thought that I made them up though. lol. (public release page). I'm not asking for credit (obviously these are different pronouns), but I'm wondering who authored these ones! :) Sources would be nice, hien? --→ Chèvredan∫ante ^{talk · contrib} 16:10, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

Predicate Pronoun

Different sites seem to use "predicate pronoun" in different ways. In "David knew it was she all along" and "Lisa hasn't been herself lately," the 'predicate pronoun' in the first is "she" but the 'predicate pronoun' in the second is "herself". "Object pronoun" seems a clearer term to use in the chart.

I also added a fifth form which I'm calling "possessive (noun form)" to parallel all the he/she/it cases: 'her car' versus 'that car of hers'; 'his dog' versus 'that dog of his'; 'xyr house' versus 'that house of ---"? Obviously "xyrs" by extension.

I also noted other spellings, since I wasn't familiar with the xe/xyr/xem set, but had usually seen the xe/xer/xim one, as in this discussion.

--Ghavral 01:42, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

"David knew it was she all along" is not right, it should be "David knew it was her all along" --Macarion 01:46, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

The latter is more common, the former is more correct.

A flagrant NPOV problem

This article makes it sound as though these words are an official part of the English language when in fact they are not official, or popular, or even widely known. They are made-up words that have negligible further scope beyond the paper at Autism.org in which they're proposed, and they are no more notable than other made-up suggestions for neutral pronouns and certainly should not be conveyed as anything more than that. Further, I feel these words are just as non-notable as many of the nonsense articles that get speedy-deleted every day such as definitions made up by kids (e.g. "Joshism" and "Pulling a Jeff") who wish to immortalize the made-up words they use with their friends, but that's my admittedly biased opinion. This article is already confusing to the previous non-native speakers of English who are asking in this talk page how this word is used in everyday English, oblivious to the truth that it is not. The introduction to this article should state that these are pronouns proposed by (somebody) which have not gained acceptance or common use, just like the Ze article (a similar proposed pronoun) does. Reswobslc 15:18, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

I've made the article much more NPOV, approaching many of your concerns. I've thusly removed the tag. - CheNuevara 16:37, 20 July 2006 (UTC)