Editing Spivak pronoun

{{short description|Set of gender-neutral pronouns in English}}

{{split|Spivak Pronouns|Elverson Pronouns|date=May 2025}}

{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Citation style|date=September 2024}}
}}
The '''Spivak pronouns''' 'e/em/eir' are a set of [[gender-neutral pronoun]]s in [[English language|English]] promoted on the virtual community ''[[LambdaMOO]]'' based on pronouns used in a book by American mathematician [[Michael Spivak]]. <!-- exact definition moved to [[gender-neutral pronoun#English]] --> Though not in widespread use, they have been employed in writing for [[gender-neutral language]] by those who wish to avoid the standard terms ''he'', ''she'', or [[singular they|singular ''they'']].

== History ==
The precise history of the Spivak pronouns is unclear, since they appear to have been independently created multiple times.

The first recorded<ref name="Dennis Barton">{{cite journal |last=Baron |first=Dennis E. |title=The Epicene Pronoun: The Word That Failed |journal=American Speech |volume=56 |issue=2 |year=1981 |pages=83–97 |jstor=455007 |doi=10.2307/455007 }}</ref> use of the pronouns was in a January 1890 editorial by James Rogers, who derives ''e'', ''es'', and ''em'' from ''he'' and ''them'' in response to the proposed ''thon''.<ref name="James Rogers">Rogers, James "That Impersonal Pronoun." Editorial. Comp. William Henry Hills ''[[The Writer]]'' Boston. Jan. 1890, 4th ed.: 12-13. ''Google Books''. Google. Web. Accessed 31 July 2014. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QQQ-AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA312].</ref> Coincidentally, Scottish author [[David Lindsay (novelist)|David Lindsay]] used the similar forms ''ae'' and ''aer'' in his novel ''[[A Voyage to Arcturus]]'', to refer to  non-terrestrial beings "unmistakably of a third positive sex".

In 1975, Christine M. Elverson of [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]], [[Illinois]], won a contest by the Chicago Association of Business Communicators to find replacements for "she and he", "him and her", and "his and hers". Her pronouns ''ey'', ''em'', and ''eir'' were formed by dropping the "th" from ''they'', ''them'', and ''their''.<ref name="Elverson">Scanned clipping from {{cite news | date = 1975-08-23 | title = Ey has a word for it | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | first = Judie | last = Black | page = 12 }}, published in {{cite journal | date = 2011-07-02 | title= The Rise of "Transgender" | author = Guest Blogger | journal = The Bilerico Project | url = http://www.bilerico.com/2011/07/the_rise_of_transgender.php | access-date = 2011-10-27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111125135835/www.bilerico.com/2011/07/the_rise_of_transgender.php | archive-date = 2011-11-25}}</ref> (See [[wikt:'em|'em]].) The article that first reported the pronouns treated them as something of a joke, concluding with the line, "A contestant from California entered the word 'uh' because 'if it isn't a he or a she, it's uh, something else.' So much of eir humor."<ref name="Christine Elverson">Black, Judie. "Ey Has a Word for It." ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' 23 Aug. 1975, sec. 1: 12.</ref>

Writing in 1977, poet, playwright, and linguist Lillian Carlton submitted a letter to the journal ''[[American Speech]]'' reporting (and arguing against) the invention by "an American professor" (likely Donald MacKay<ref name="Martyna">{{cite journal |last=Martyna |first=Wendy |title=Beyond the 'He/Man' Approach: The Case for Nonsexist Language |journal=Signs |volume=5 |issue=3 |year=1980 |pages=492 |jstor=3173588 |doi=10.1086/493733 |s2cid=144075372 }} Citing Donald G. MacKay, "Birth of a Word," manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles. However, if MacKay ever wrote this manuscript, it does not appear on his CV or anywhere else easily discernable.</ref>) of pronouns based on "the long sound of the vowel e [[Close front unrounded vowel|i]]".<ref name="Lillian Carlton">{{cite journal |last=Carlton |first=Lillian E. |title=An Epicene Suggestion |journal=American Speech |volume=54 |issue=2 |year=1979 |pages=156–57 |jstor=455219 |doi=10.2307/455219 }}</ref> Although her primary argument against the proposed word is her assertion that English "already [has] a perfectly good... word that refers to either sex", namely "one", she also raises the observations that "spoken fast, it comes uncomfortably close to the illiterate hisself... [Furthermore], ''ee'' sounds too much like ''he'' and would therefore be confusing."<ref name="Lillian Carlton" /> Similar arguments, along with the desire to distance themselves from the male-centric singular ''he'' and derivatives, are still a primary factor in the proliferation of constructed pronouns.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

Also in 1977, Jeffery J. Smith, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Stanford University, writing under the pen name "Tintajl jefry", proposed "Em" as "a personal noun-pronoun which in itself gives no indication of sex, age, or number, though these may be shown by its context."<ref name="Tintajl jefry">jefry [sic.], Tintajl. "Una: The Emerging Language of the World". (Em Institute 1997), pp. 1-4., cited in Lockheed, Marlaine E. ''Curriculum and Research for Equity: A Training Manual for Promoting Sex Equity in the Classroom.'' Rep. no. Classroom Guide. Washington, DC.: Women's Educational Equity Act Program (ED), 1982. pp. 110-113 [http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED235104.pdf]</ref> He proposes a vast number of possible uses for "em", including but not limited to the replacement of "the formal Dear, because em is a thou word, a term of respect for all people, bar none... Dear Em Doe is redundant. Em Doe is enough, and, since it is brief; it makes room for given names: Em John Doe, Em Mary and John Doe, or, better, Em Doe John, Em Doe John and Mary."

The May 1980 issue of ''[[American Psychologist]]'' reported on another study by MacKay, testing rates at which subjects miscomprehended the gender of a subject in textbook paragraphs when written with ''he'' meaning ''he or she'' compared with three [[epicene]] pronoun sets: ''E'', ''E'', ''Es'', ''Eself''; ''e'', ''e'', ''es'', ''eself''; and ''tey'', ''tem'', ''ter'', ''temself''.<ref>{{cite journal |date=May 1980 | first = Donald G. | last = MacKay | title = Psychology, Prescriptive Grammar, and the Pronoun Problem | journal = American Psychologist | volume = 35 | issue = 5 | pages = 444–449 | url = http://mackay.bol.ucla.edu/1980%20pronoun%20problem%20ap%201980.pdf | doi = 10.1037/0003-066x.35.5.444
}}</ref>

In 1983, mathematician [[Michael Spivak]] wrote the [[AMS-TeX]] manual ''The Joy of TEX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TEX Macro Package '' (1986) using ''E'', ''Em'', and ''Eir''. His set was similar to Elverson's, but capitalized like one of MacKay's sets.

In May 1991, a [[MUD, object oriented|MOO]] programmer, Roger Crew, added "spivak" as a gender setting for players on [[LambdaMOO]], causing the game to refer to such players with the pronouns ''e'', ''em'', ''eir'', ''eirs'', ''emself''. The setting was added along with several other "fake genders" in order to test changes to the software's pronoun code, and was left in place as a novelty. To Crew's surprise, the Spivak setting caught on among the game's players, while the other gender settings were mostly ignored.<ref name="CyberSociety 2.0">{{cite book | title = CyberSociety 2.0: revisiting computer-mediated communication and community | first = Steve | last = Jones | date = 1998-07-15 | publisher = Sage Publications | location = Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi | isbn = 978-0-7619-1461-7 | oclc = 808377689 | lccn = 98008984 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/cybersociety20re0000unse }}</ref><ref>Moomail from Rog to Lig, 2001-08-26, quoted in {{cite journal | title = Spivak | first = Sue | last = Thomas | journal = The Barcelona Review | issue = 35 |date=March–April 2003 | url = http://barcelonareview.com/35/e_st.htm | access-date = 2011-10-27 }}</ref>

Other writers applied Elverson's original "th"-dropping rule and revived ''ey'', such as Eric Klein in his legal code for a planned micronation called Oceania.<ref>{{cite web | year = 1993 | title = Laws of Oceania | first = Eric | last = Klein | work = Oceania — The Atlantis Project | url = http://oceania.org/laws.html }}</ref> John Williams's ''Gender-neutral Pronoun FAQ'' (2004) promoted the original Elverson set (via Klein) as preferable to other major contenders popular on Usenet (singular ''they'', ''sie''/''hir''/''hir''/''hirs''/''hirself'', and ''zie''/''zir''/''zir''/''zirs''/''zirself'').<ref>{{cite web|year=2004 |title=Gender-neutral Pronoun FAQ |first=John |last=Williams |url=http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209103126/http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/ |archive-date=February 9, 2014 }}</ref>

== Variations ==
Three variants of the Spivak pronouns are in use,{{Clarify|reason=In use where, by who?|date=August 2023}} Rogers (1890), Elverson (1975), and LambdaMOO (1991), highlighted in the [[declension]] table below. The pronoun set used by Lindsay (1920) is also in use,<ref>{{cite web |title=My pronouns are: ae/aer |url=https://en.pronouns.page/ae |website=Pronouns.page |access-date=28 January 2024}}</ref> although generally not in the context of Spivak pronouns.

{| class="wikitable center" style="vertical-align:top;"
|+ Declension table for Spivak pronoun variants
|-
! Variant
! [[Nominative case|Subject]] || [[Accusative case|Object]] || [[Possessive adjective]] || [[Possessive pronoun]] || [[Reflexive pronoun|Reflexive]]
|-
! scope="row" | [[Masculine]]
| ''he'' laughs || I hugged ''him'' || ''his'' heart warmed || that is ''his'' || he loves ''himself''
|-
! scope="row" | [[Feminine]]
| ''she'' laughs || I hugged ''her'' || ''her'' heart warmed || that is ''hers'' || she loves ''herself''
|-
! scope="row" | [[Singular they|Singular ''they'']]
| ''they'' laugh || I hugged ''them'' || ''their'' heart warmed || that is ''theirs'' || they love ''themself''
|- style="background:#ffdead"
! scope="row" | Rogers (1890)<ref name="James Rogers" />
| ''e'' laughs || I hugged ''em'' || ''es'' heart warmed
|-
! scope="row" | Lindsay (1920)
| ''ae'' laughs || I hugged ''aer'' || ''aer'' heart warmed || that is *''aers'' || ae loves *''aerself''
|- style="background:#ffdead"
! scope="row" | Elverson (1975)<ref name="Christine Elverson" />
| ''ey'' laughs || I hugged ''em'' || ''eir'' heart warmed || that is ''eirs'' || ey loves ''emself''
|-
! scope="row" | "anti-Carlton" (1977)<ref name="Lillian Carlton" />
| ''ee'' laughs ||   || ''*ees'' heart warmed || that is ''*ees'' || ee loves ''eeself'' <!-- possibly this and MacKay should be merged. -->
|-
! scope="row" | Tintajl (1977)<ref name="Tintajl jefry" />
| ''em'' laughs || I hugged ''em'' || ''ems'' heart warmed || that is ''ems'' || em loves ''emself''
|-
! scope="row" | MacKay (1980)
| ''E'' laughs || I hugged ''E'' || ''Es'' heart warmed
|-
! scope="row" | Spivak (1983){{efn|name=joyoftex|''The Joy of TeX'' uses "E", "Em", and "Eir", always capitalized.}}
| ''E'' laughs || I hugged ''Em'' || ''Eir'' heart warmed
|- style="background:#ffdead"
! scope="row" | LambdaMOO "spivak" (1991)<ref>{{cite newsgroup | date = 1992-05-26 | newsgroup = rec.games.mud | title = Re: cross-gendered players | first = Judy | last = Anderson |message-id= 1992May26.192745.7155@lucid.com | url = https://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud/msg/cb352563ae2118ed }}</ref>{{efn|From 1998 through 2011, LambdaMOO's <code>"help spivak"</code> output described the spivak set as "E – subject", "Em – objective", "Eir – possessive (adjective)", "Eirs – possessive (noun)" and "Emself – reflexive".<ref name="Barcelona Review">{{cite journal | title = Spivak | first = Sue | last = Thomas | journal = The Barcelona Review | issue = 35 |date=March–April 2003 | url = http://barcelonareview.com/35/e_st.htm | access-date = 2011-10-27 }}</ref>}}
| ''e'' laughs || I hugged ''em'' || ''eir'' heart warmed || that is ''eirs'' || e loves ''emself''
|}

The original ''ey'' has been argued to be preferable to ''e'', because the latter would be pronounced the same as ''he'' in those contexts where ''he, him, his'' loses its h sound.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GNP FAQ - Technical |url=http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/technical.html#declensiongnp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202215940/http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/technical.html#declensiongnp |archive-date=2014-02-02}}</ref>

== Usage ==
Spivak is one of the allowable genders on many [[multi-user dungeon]]s (MUDs) and [[MOO]]s (MUD object-oriented). Others might include some selection of: [[masculine]], [[feminine]], neuter, either, both, "[[splat (pronouns)|splat]]", plural, egotistical, royal, and second. The selected gender determines how the game engine refers to a player.{{Citation needed | date=August 2023}}

On [[LambdaMOO]], they became standard practice for help texts ("The user may choose any description e likes"), referring to people of unknown gender ("Who was that guest yesterday, eir typing was terrible"), referring to people whose gender was known but without disclosing it ("Yes I've met Squiggle. E was nice."), or of course characters declaring themselves to be of gender Spivak. Since 2000 this usage has been declining.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

[[Nomic]] games, especially on the Internet, often use Spivak pronouns in their rulesets, as a way to refer to indefinite players.<ref>Martin, W. Eric. ''Meta-Gaming 101''. [[Games (magazine)|Games]]. Issue 193 (Vol. 27, No. 7). Pg.7. September 2003.</ref>

===Spivak pronouns and gender in virtual communities===
In online anonymous situations, Spivak and other gender neutral pronouns can be motivated by avoiding gendered speech that would make divisions in the social group more likely and the group possibly less productive or enjoyable.<ref>Herring, Susan. "Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Communication: Bringing Familiar Baggage to the New Frontier." Making the Net*Work: Is There a Z39.50 in Gender Communication? American Library Association Annual Convention, Miami. 27 June 1994. Web. 1 Aug. 2014. <http://urd.let.rug.nl/~welling/cc/gender-differences-communication.pdf></ref> This contact with genderless pronouns in virtual communities is sometimes a person's first experience and experimentation with presenting their gender in a [[genderqueer]] or [[transgender]] manner.<ref name="CyberSociety 2.0" />

===Publications employing Spivak pronouns===
====Elverson 1975 set (ey, em, eir)====
* {{Cite book| date = 2011-05-26| title = Que Será Serees: What Will Be, Serees?| first = CJ| last = Carter| publisher = CJCS Publishing| isbn = 978-0-615-48304-7 }}
* {{cite web| year = 1993| title = Laws of Oceania| first = Eric| last = Klein| work = Oceania — The Atlantis Project| url = http://oceania.org/laws.html}}
* {{Cite book| year = 2007| title = Larkenia's Flaws: Volume 1| first = Morgan| last = O'Friel| publisher = TheSpindle| location = Grand Rapids| isbn = 978-0-615-14753-6| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9780615147536}}
* {{cite web| year = 2009–2014| title = Riot Nrrd| first = RJ| last = Edwards| url = http://www.riotnrrdcomics.com/characters/}}

===="Spivak" 1991 set (e, em, eir)====
* {{Cite book| date = 1999-01-20| title = my tiny life: crime and passion in a virtual world| first = Julian| last = Dibbell| publisher = Holt Paperbacks| isbn = 978-0-8050-3626-8 | oclc = 38832313 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SK3VRr7bFVkC}}
* {{Cite book| year = 2003| title = Yib's Guide to MOOing: Getting the Most from Virtual Communities on the Internet| first = Elizabeth| last = Hess| publisher = Trafford Publishing| isbn = 978-1-4120-0290-5 | oclc = 52196000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2l5yrb2rJ9EC}}
* {{Cite book| year = 2000| contribution = Ethics, Plugged and Unplugged: The Pegagogy of Disorderly Conduct| first = Jane| last = Love| title = Taking flight with OWLs: Examining Electronic Writing Center Work| editor1-first = James A.| editor1-last = Inman| editor2-first = Donna N.| editor2-last = Sewell| publisher = Taylor & Francis| isbn = 0-8058-3171-1 | oclc = 44959404 | id = {{LCC|PE1414.T24 1999}}| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aFKqSzIxCLkC&pg=PA190}}
* {{Cite book| year = 1997| title = Doom Patrols: A Theoretical Fiction About Postmodernism| first = Steven| last = Shaviro| author-link = Steven Shaviro| publisher = Serpent's Tail| location = London| isbn = 978-1-85242-430-5 | oclc = 36149141 | lccn = 96068813}}
* {{Cite book| date = 1990-04-01| title = The Joy of TeX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TeX Macro Package| first = Michael| last = Spivak| publisher = American Mathematical Soc.| author-link = Michael Spivak| edition = 2nd| isbn = 978-0-8218-2997-4 | oclc = 22119488}}{{efn|name=joyoftex}}
* {{Cite book| date = 2004-03-31| title = Hello World : travels in virtuality| first = Sue| last = Thomas| publisher = Raw Nerve Books| isbn = 978-0-9536585-6-5 | oclc = 56680697 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4vweAQAAIAAJ}}
* the [[Orion's Arm]] universe<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/495360fba7a46 |title=Pronouns, Anglish |date=2001-03-06 |website=orionsarm.com |access-date=2017-07-26 }}</ref>
* {{Cite book| date = 2017-11-26| title = Provenance| first = Ann| last = Leckie| publisher = Orbit| location = New York | isbn = 978-0-3163886-3-4 | oclc = 987155122 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=B2CHDgAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book | year = 2019 | title = Gender Queer : a memoir | first = Maia | last = Kobabe | author-link = Maia Kobabe | publisher = Lion Forge | isbn = 978-1549304002 | oclc = 1106371004}}

== See also ==
* [[Generic antecedents]]
* [[Ri (pronoun)]], Esperanto
* [[Elle (Spanish pronoun)]]
* [[Hen (pronoun)]], Swedish
* [[Iel (pronoun)]], French
* [[Elu (Portuguese pronoun)]]
* [[Gender-neutral pronouns]]
* [[Neopronoun]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|e|ey|em|eir|eirs|emself}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130625120121/http://www.aetherlumina.com/gnp/ Gender-neutral pronoun FAQ on Aetherlumina.com]

{{English gender-neutral pronouns}}

[[Category:English pronouns]]