Res facta quae tamen fingi potuit (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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linguaphiles2019-07-31 06:29 am
pauamma) wrote in linguaphiles2019-07-31 06:29 am
The history of English singular they
"Usage of singular they has seen a progression from indefinite singular referents of unspecified gender, to definite singular referents of unspecified gender, to definite singular referents of known gender but unspecified identity, to definite singular referents of known birth sex and specified identity"Can anyone put approximate dates on the stages described here? It seems to me that dating all of them back to "Shakespeare and before him Chaucer" as if singular they were a monolithic thing is misleading.