New gender-neutral pronoun likely to enter official Norwegian language

A new gender-neutral pronoun will be entered into the official Norwegian language, the Language Council of Norway has said.

As an alternative to the feminine “hun” and masculine “han”, “hen” is thought to be a new addition for singular third-person pronouns.

Daniel Ims, a representative of the council, told Norwegian media: “Over time, we have seen that the actual use of hen has increased and stabilised.”

He went on to explain that gender-neutral pronouns had been discussed in Norway’s linguistic and grammar community for a while, but their formal inclusion in the Norwegian language has been debated, as they weren’t being mirrored in Norwegian speech patterns.

It’s a similar situation in other nations worldwide; for example, the French education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, accused a reference dictionary of “US-inspired wokeism” for including an entry for the word “iel”, which is used by some in France as a gender-neutral pronoun.

According to the US Merriam-Webster dictionary, the singular gender-neutral definition of the pronoun “they” was added in 2019.

It was first found in the English language in its plural form via Old Norse.

Now, the English singular use pronoun has been adopted by some non-binary Norwegians, with many using the Norwegian equivalent “de” similarly.

Carl-Oscar Vik, 18, is from Skien in south-east Norway, and has been experimenting with pronouns over the past year. They do not object to using hen, but feel most comfortable with de, which apparently feels more natural in Norwegian.

They told The Guardian: “A hundred years ago it was normal to use singular de to address people of a higher rank. Ultimately it’s just a question of preference.”

They see the recent debate about formally recognising hen, as progress, and a way to increase the visibility of non-binary people in public life.

Vik said: “I think that a normal person on the street doesn’t know anyone who identifies as non-binary, But I hope that by getting hen into the dictionary we can get the idea out there, because there are many people who don’t feel at home in certain pronouns but don’t have the words to describe it.”

It’s hoped that the official recognition of gender-neutral pronouns might be the first step to legally recognise a third gender.

From as early as spring or early autumn, hen could be found in Norwegian dictionaries, following a consultation phase which is open to “all in the [Norwegian] language community.”