My pronouns are:
ae/aer
(Neopronoun “ae” / “æ”)
Example usage in sentences:
Table:
Examples from cultural texts:
Neopronoun “ae” / “æ” (ae/aer)
Allison Forsyth – How the Pandemic Upended the Life of Sarasota’s College Students (Sarasota Magazine) , 2021
- “Online classes were foreign to Krasny, save for a random driver’s ed course ae took in high school. During lockdown, ae was taking welding and sculpting classes that required special materials, which the school provided. But it was hard to replicate assignments alone in aer room. (Oceanna uses the pronouns “ae” and “aer”).”
A City of Surveillance and Wonders: Announcing S. Qiouyi Lu’s Debut Novella In the Watchful City (Tor.com) , 2020 ; The article is about a book by S. Qiouyi Lu, who uses ae/they pronouns, titled "In the Watchful City." Anima, the protagonist of the book, uses æ/ær/ærs pronouns.
- “Tordotcom Publishing is thrilled to announce that Jonathan Strahan has acquired World English Rights to S. Qiouyi Lu’s In the Watchful City, a lyrical, intimate novella set in a remote, fantastical city that uses a complex living network to watch over its inhabitants and visitors. Through the lens of four interconnected stories, one of the city’s cloistered human overseers will see aer knowledge of aer world expand beyond the city’s boundaries to places—and possibilities—ae has never before imagined to exist.”
- “S. Qiouyi Lu writes, translates, and edits between two coasts of the Pacific. Aer work has appeared in several award-winning venues. Ae edits the magazine Arsenika and runs microverses, a hub for tiny narratives. You can find out more about S. at aer website s.qiouyi.lu or on Twitter ”
- “sqiouyilu.”
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other, 2019
- “they discussed the best gender-neutral alternatives such as ae, e, ey, per, they, and tested each word to see if the words tripped off the tongue or “tripped over it, ditto with the alternatives to his and hers: hirs, aers, eirs, pers, theirs and xyrs”
David Lindsay – A Voyage to Arcturus, 1920
- “No children were produced by the act; the lover aerself was the eternal child. Further, ae sought like a man, but received like a woman.”
- “Ae possessed broad shoulders and big bones, and was without female breasts, and so far ae resembled a man. But the bones were so flat and angular that aer flesh presented something of the character of a crystal, having plane surfaces in place of curves.”
- “Maskull found it impossible to compute aer age. The frame appeared active, vigorous, and healthy, the skin was clear and glowing; the eyes were powerful and alert—ae might well be in early youth. ”
S. Qiouyi Lu – In the Watchful City (GoodReads book summary) , 2021 ; This is the GoodReads summary of "In The Watchful City" by S. Qiouyi Lu. The main character is Anima and æ uses æ/ær/ærs pronouns. According to the reviews, other characters have neopronouns like se/ser/sers and e/em/eirs.
- “Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm.”
- “As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?”
What's the deal with pronouns?
Pronouns are those words that we use instead of calling someone by their name every time we mention them. Most people use “he/him” and “she/her”, so we automatically assume which one to call them based on someone's looks. But it's actually not that simple…
Gender is complicated. Some people “don't look like” their gender. Some prefer being called in a different way from what you'd assume. Some people don't fit into the boxes of “male” or “female” and prefer more neutral language.
This tool lets you share a link to your pronouns, with example sentences, so that you can show people how you like to be called.
Why does it matter? Because of simple human decency. You wouldn't call Ashley “Samantha” just because you like that name more or because “she looks like a Samantha to you”. Or even if she does have the name “Samantha” in her birth certificate but she absolutely hates it and prefers to use “Ashley”. And it's the exact same story with pronouns – if you don't want to be rude towards someone, please address them properly. The only difference is that we usually know names, but not pronouns. We introduce ourselves with a name, but not pronouns. Let's change that!