Gender-fair language in French

In her PhD project, Julia Tibblin studies gender-fair language in French (écriture inclusive), that is, ways of including both masculine and feminine forms to make language more inclusive, as opposed to using the masculine as the generic or neutral form. Gender-fair forms is a controversial topic in France. Tibblin’s previous studies have explored how gender-fair language is viewed by the public and how specific forms are interpreted by readers. In a new study, Tibblin uses eye-tracking to explore potential effects on comprehension as measured by reading times and reading patterns. She focuses on two different gender-fair forms of nouns, the so-called complete double forms (joggeuses et joggeurs, both feminine and masculine forms of the noun included) and the contracted double form (joggeur·euses in which both masculine and feminines endings are included on one single noun). In addition to the double forms, the experiment includes the traditional masculine as neutral (i.e. joggeurs). Each form is compared to control items that have been matched for length and typography. Preliminary analyses indicate that only the contracted double form differs in reading time from its matched controls, which implies that it is more difficult to process.

Julia Tibblin, Centre for Languages and literature, Lund University