Inclusive Language Outrage, From Untranslatable German To Generic Italian Masculine

-OpEd-

Germany’s untranslatable words have always been cause for great envy and awe. Words like rechthaber, fremdschämen, weltschmerz, schadenfreude and zeitgeist manage to describe humanity in just a few letters.

In 1821, the German linguist Johann Andreas Schmeller invented the schwa symbol (ə) to represent a weak vowel sound. Now, who is going to tell him that his own country has banned his brilliant invention?

From April 1, the German state of Bavaria has banned the use of the schwa, pause, asterisk and other verbal symbols inside words in official documents from public administrations, including schools and universities. Symbols including the schwa are used to forge gender-inclusive language by Germans who want their language to evolve to become less male-dominated. In German (as in many languages) nouns that refer to people have traditionally been masculine or feminine; but in the plural, the masculine is traditionally used by default, called the “generic masculine.”

In Bavaria, the stated reason for rejecting gender-inclusive language is that the use of these symbols is unnecessary and could make the text unintelligible. For the world is not made for TikTok, GenZ or intersectional collectives; the world is also made for illiterate people — not that those two groups do not meet in the Venn diagram of intersectionality. The paradox of inclusive language is that it is actually an exclusive language: it is only understandable to them.

In Italy, between 1959 and 1968, the educational television program “Non è mai troppo tardi “(“It’s never too late”), invented and directed by the school teacher Alberto Manzi, taught millions of Italians how to read and write. Broadcast every late afternoon, the show provided basic Italian language lessons for men and women returning home after a day of working in the fields and factories.

Today, the new masters of inclusion — those who tried to implement the schwa, pause, asterisks — have not been able to make themselves as understood, as Manzi did some 60 years ago. The reason why, I imagine, is because it is not in their interest to be understood by anyone, whether in the Italian countryside or in Bavaria.

Non-neutral grammar

To no one’s amazement, school documents or public administration documents are not Instagram carousels: they must be clear, readable, understandable. Those opposing common sense, to no surprise, were university collectives, labor unions and the Federal Student Conference.

Language changes if society changes. But if we think the world changes because in Italian (a language, like German, where nouns can be feminine or masculine), we use architetta (the feminine form) instead of architetto (the masculine one), then we are hypocrites.

I’ll let people call me whatever they want, but give me the same salary as a man. Reforming grammar, spelling, masculine and feminine is an exercise in style, focusing on the easy changes because those are the ones that get applause.

Feminine majority

Even so, I still do not understand why documents cannot include both masculine and feminine versions. Did they run out of paper? Not enough space on the page? Too much effort? And how do we deal with those who feel excluded from masculine and feminine?

Language does not shape reality.

A few days ago, the University of Trento updated its regulations using the generic feminine. Italian (like other Romance languages) uses the generic masculine. Therefore, official documents address to the general architetti (plural of architetto, masculine) instead of architette (plural of the feminine architetta). If there’s a group of 10 people and eight are women, the group is still called architetti, despite the feminine majority.

“Reading the updated regulation document struck me,” University Rector Flavio Deflorian wrote, “As a man, I felt excluded. This made me think a lot about the feeling women might experience on a daily basis when they do not see themselves represented in official documents. So I proposed to give, at least in this important document, a signal of discontinuity.”

I would like to know how many women have felt excluded from society “on a daily basis” because of the generic masculine. And most of all, I would like to know why a man is telling me how I should feel? How is calling a man with a female rector (rettrice instead of rettore) inclusive? Or more importantly, how is it common sense?

Spelling “spaghetti”

April is, indeed, the cruellest month: Scotland’s new hate crime law came into force on the same day as Bavaria’s schwa ban. The Scottish act provides for the introduction of a number of new offenses, raising very serious questions about freedom of expression.

Language does not shape reality. But when it tries to do so without serious thought, it paradoxically leads to restricting freedom of expression. In Scotland, for example, misgendering (mistaking someone’s gender identity), although not criminalized, may be investigated by the police. In this respect, the schwa ban is the lesser of two evils.

In February, the German Spelling Council abolished the h-free spelling of “spaghetti.” I don’t know if those who still use “spagetti” will end up in jail, but these days, I expect anything.