THEhe announcement of the entry of the pronoun “iel” in the online edition of Robert on November 17 has been more criticized than welcomed. Firstly by the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, for whom the use of this non-gendered pronoun, a contraction of “he” and “she”, “ is not good in any way “. If the publisher defended himself by recalling that his mission is “ to observe the evolution of a French language in movement, diverse, and to give an account of it “, the debate is far from over.
Rather recent, the controversy around the pronoun “iel” arose at the same time as that on the midpoint, used in inclusive writing. In The world, “Iel” made its appearance four years ago, on October 13, 2017. Frédéric Joignot devoted his column that day to the publication of a school manual, Question the world (Hatier), who, while practicing inclusive writing, feminizes trades and syntax. He recounts the ongoing debates: should we really use the midpoint? Say and write “ carpenter ” Where “ provost “, of which Professor Eliane Viennot recalls that the use was common until the 17th centurye century? to write “ voters “, what the French Academy judges “ redundant “ ?
Ideological hubbub
While some of these questions seem distant, others are now in the headlines: “ Art critic Elisabeth Lebovici, who wrote an entire essay in inclusive, What aids did to me (JRP Ringier), raises the question of people who do not recognize themselves in any genre: she recommends using the pronouns “iel” or “ille” – in the plural “iels” or “illes”. ”
“The fact that 99 women and a man become ‘they’ in the plural is obviously scandalous. »Alain Rey, linguist, in 2017
Let’s calm down, seems to suggest Alain Rey a few weeks later, in an interview with journalist Anne Chemin. The speech of the favorite linguist of the French (who died in 2020) is expected, because the debate has turned to ideological hubbub. Which does not surprise Alain Rey. “ The bellicose nature of the language debate is normal, he explains on November 23, 2017, but it is particularly acute in France, because, in this country, linguistic unity did not happen by itself: it is the fruit of a political will which, over the centuries, has always given rise to violent fights. ”
Point by point, Alain Rey returns to the history of the place of the feminine in language. He points out that “ the fact that 99 women and a man become “they” in the plural is obviously scandalous ”, but remember that “ it is use that takes precedence, it is he who is right “. In the pronoun system, he recalls that “I” and “you” are perfectly inclusive since they can designate either a man or a woman. “ But with the third person, “he” and “she”, that no longer works: if we wanted to remedy it, we would have to resort to a bizarre invention, like “iel”, which would mean both “he” and “ she”. ” Here again, he doesn’t believe much: “ However, such forced inclusion is doomed to failure. ”
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