September 15, 2006

Huh? A Pronoun That Goes Both Ways

By THOMAS BARTLETT

One of the annoying quirks of the English language is the lack of a gender-neutral third-person-singular pronoun. It forces writers to use stuffy alternatives like "one" or awkward constructions like "he or she."

Fortunately, D.N. DeLuna has a solution: Hu.

Yes, hu.

Ms. DeLuna teaches writing part time at the Johns Hopkins University and recently founded the Archangul Foundation to promote the usage of the gender-neutral, or epicene, pronoun. She is also the editor of The