An overview of Faroese non-binary pronouns

Faroese is a strongly gendered language: even saying something as simple as "I'm hungry" requires specifying which gender you are.

It's problematic for non-binary people, because we cannot simply switch one set of pronouns for another to express our identity. We cannot simply switch one set of pronouns for another to express our identity. We also need to pick either binary from of adjectives, or come up with new neutral forms for the adjectives and declined forms of pronouns. (also: some nouns like "prime minister", are gendered as well, although there is already a trend to come up with neutral alternatives, especially in the case where the noun is masculine.)

This website is an effort to put together, in a structured and accessible way, the existing ideas for less gendered pronouns and other forms. This version is in Faroese (see: Fornøvn), but if you don't speak it, yet are still interested in how this language tries to cope with the omnipresent binaries, we've prepared a short overview of those ideas in English.

Normative forms

Because of the limitations of Faroese grammar, or simply because they just prefer it that way, many non-binary people decide to simply use "he" ("hann") or "hon" ("hon") – either the same as their gender assigned at birth or the opposite. That doesn't make them any less non-binary! Pronouns ≠ gender.

	I am thirsty	Do you want to do it yourself?	Somebody told them they are pretty
hann/hansara Masculine	Eg eri tystur	Vilt tú gera tað sjálvur?	Onkur segði at [hann] er vakur
hon/hennara Feminine	Eg eri tyst	Vilt tú gera tað sjálv?	Onkur segði at [hon] er vøkur

Neutrative forms

Faroese has three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuther. Why don't enbies simply use neuter then?

The thing is, historically this grammatical gender has only been applied to some inanimate objects and animals, and also kids (in a very limited way). To apply it for adults sounds dehumanizing for most cis listeners and using the neuter forms of verbs in the 1st and 2nd person is so rare that listeners (falsely) think that it's incorrect. Eg. one could say "barnið er svangt" (="the kid is hungry"), but the kid themselves would use the forms corresponding to their assigned gender: "svangur/svong" but not "svangt".

In a way, a parallel could be drawn between the Faroese neuter forms and the English "it" pronoun. To call someone an "it" is offensive – unless it itself wants to use "it/its". However, most non-binary people don't opt for the neuter "it/its".

	I am thirsty	Do you want to do it yourself?	Somebody told them they are pretty
tað/tess Neuter	Eg eri tyst	Vilt tú gera tað sjálvt?	Onkur segði at [tað] er vakurt

Plural forms

Using plural forms to describe a single person is basically a loan translation of the English "singular they". Keep in mind, though, that Faroesespeakers aren't yet too used to the idea of referring to one person in plural forms, so it might lead to misunderstandings.

The bad news is that there's still three grammatical genders in plural (masculine, feminne, and neuter). Though the plural neutral adjectives often matches the singular feminine adjectives, which is why most enbies who use "tey/teirra" pronouns decide to use feminine adjectives. But, whichever forms are chosen by a person, the plurality itself already points to them being non-binary.

	I am thirsty	Do you want to do it yourself?	Somebody told them they are pretty
tey/teirra Feminine plurals	Eg eri tyst	Vilt tú gera tað sjálv?	Onkur segði at [tey] eru vøkur

Neopronouns (nýfornøvn)

The pronouns hinn are a set of pronouns that LGBT+ Faroe Islands and the Language Council collaborated on, in order to make a gender neutral pronoun. It is inspired by the Swedish "hen".

The project unfortunately never crossed the finish line, and seems to be stuck in limbo right now. It is thus currently a bit unclear exactly how they imagine the pronoun to work.

	I am thirsty	Do you want to do it yourself?	Somebody told them they are pretty
hinn/hins	Eg eri tyst	Vilt tú gera tað sjálv?	Onkur segði at [hinn] er vøkur

Placeholder forms

Another approach is to take the parts of a word that differ between the gendered forms, and to use a placeholder to merge the parts together. For instance "you are good" can be translated as "tú ert góð/ur".

The main usage of such forms is to address a group of people or an unspecified person, however non-binary people could use a similar approach too. It's very easy to understand the intent behind using those forms, even to listeners unfamiliar with the concept of non-binary. The main disadvantage is that in most cases they are only used in writing, while being hard to pronounce.

Interchangeable forms

Non-binary people might use more than one form interchangeably and are fine with being any of them.