28 The Linguist Vol/60 No/5 2021
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OPINION & COMMENT
Email linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk with your views
Challenging unconscious gender bias
may have considerable
influence on the ways we
see the world. Therefore
avoiding the unconscious
biases in the languages we
use in professional and social
settings can, at times, be difficult.
We all make mistakes and we grow by
learning from them. Like language, which is
alive and always changing, we, too, should
constantly challenge our assumptions, renew
our understanding, and reflect on our
experience. I believe that it is part of our duty
as linguists to help shift the paradigm, as we
possess the linguistic power that is
fundamental to making a real impact.
Gendered language that is rooted in our
everyday life may be a sensitive subject to
deal with, but if we start today by looking for
inclusive alternatives when we speak and
write, or even when we are working with our
clients or teaching our students, I trust we
can contribute to changing attitudes for
the better.
Edison Tam MCIL CL (he/him)
I have been providing language services to
academic researchers specialising in fields
related to language, gender and sexuality,
and have realised that making best efforts to
inform ourselves of current usage and good
practice is something that is important for us
as linguists, and which we ought to do with
humility. I enjoy comparing languages, and
as someone whose first language is
Cantonese, I find it fascinating how gender
stereotypes and assumptions vary between
Cantonese (or written Traditional Chinese)
and English.
Against a backdrop of hegemonic
masculinity in Hong Kong, it is interesting
that words that have traditionally been
gendered male in English have never had
any gender connotations in Cantonese. While
we have to be cautious when dealing with,
for example, 'manpower' ('staffing'), 'man-
made' ('artificial') and 'mankind' ('humankind')
in English, this has not been a problem in
Cantonese. The 'man' in these terms is 人
(jan; 'people'): 人力 (jan-lik; lit. 'people +
force'), 人造 (jan-zou; lit. 'people + to make')
and 人類 (jan-leoi; lit. 'people + kind').
Some outdated descriptive titles, for
instance 'salesman', 'policeman' and 'fireman',
are also gender-neutral in Cantonese: 售貨員
(sau-fo-jyun; lit. 'to sell + goods + member'),
警察 (ging-caat; lit. 'to alert + to examine')
and 消防員 (siu-fong-jyun; lit. 'to eliminate +
to prevent + member'). This appears to have
Star Letter prize
This issue's Star Letter writer wins a copy of Alex Bellos's The Language
Lover's Puzzle Book, which a previous winner described as "marvellous",
adding: "I am amazed that the author could find such a variety of linguistic
topics and tasks to keep us busy." We have one more copy to give away.
For your chance to win, share your views: linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk.
STAR
LETTER
LINGUISTIC POSITIONS
The fact that Cantonese does not gender
words for jobs appears to have prevented the
reproduction of traditional gender roles
prevented associated reflection and
reproduction of traditional gender roles.
When it comes to the gendered word 'guys',
as in 'bad guys', Cantonese uses 壞人 (waai-
jan; lit. 'bad + people') or 各位 (gok-wai;
'everyone'; lit. 'every + position') for 'guys' as
a generic term.
Given these examples, it may seem
reasonable to conclude that Cantonese is a
fairly inclusive language, but is it? Sadly,
gender bias is able to show itself in myriad
ways. To date, people who identify as non-
binary or who are intersex are still excluded
from the general discourse in Cantonese,
which also features gendered pronouns,
negative stereotypes and pernicious
gender/sexuality-related assumptions.
I speak of 'best efforts' because I
acknowledge the possibility that our own
backgrounds and sociocultural experience
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