The pronoun "iel" is a "publicity stunt", says the perpetual secretary of the French Academy Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, who at 92 assumes the institution's conservative positions on linguistic issues.

This neologism halfway between "he" and "she" entered the online version of the Le Robert dictionary in November, even if it is not yet widely used.

So infrequently that the first of the Immortals preferred not to engage her colleagues in the controversy.

“I calmed down the Academy.

Some of us thought that it was better not to make a drama out of it, precisely so as not to consolidate the idea that it was important.

But that is absurd.

It makes no sense,” she said during an interview in the reception room of her office.

At 92, a third of whom at the Academy, this historian has seen many fashions pass that have not remained in the language: ephemeral anglicisms, verlan words quickly forgotten, names of outdated technologies, etc.

But also a groundswell that she wanted to curb: the feminization of the language.

“The French language is now in mortal danger”

She herself wants to be called "Madame the perpetual secretary".

Because that was how it was when she was the first woman to take on this role in 1999, and it will remain so as long as she is in office.

So “iel”, which makes it possible to avoid a distinction between masculine and feminine genders, inspires him with a certain contempt.

“I think it was a

Robert

publicity stunt .

Le Robert

has lost Alain Rey [linguist who died in 2020], he is no longer the great

Robert

.

He thought it was a good opportunity to attract attention.

»

"The 'iel', I wouldn't say it comes from the United States, but there is pressure from minority groups which is an imitation of what is happening in the United States.

We are not the United States, ”she slices.

All inclusive writing repels her.

In 2017, the French Academy unanimously adopted a "solemn warning" against an "aberration".

Because of a “confusion that borders on illegibility”, lamented the guardian of good usage, “the French language is now in mortal danger”, nothing less.

The midpoint, "dumb"

The most controversial emblem of inclusive writing, the midpoint (as in “author·rice·s”), seems to Hélène Carrère d’Encausse “stupid”.

“I read myself aloud, always, a book that I start, to realize the music of the language.

We read in silence, but I think it is good to hear the author.

You can't read aloud with the midpoint,” she points out.

Better: doubling the masculine with feminine, “those and those” instead of “those” only, according to this scholar “is unbearable”.

“The French language is beautiful, quite ethereal.

When you repeat the same things with your big hooves, it's unbearable,” she says.

"Honestly what does it bring to women, "those and those"?

It doesn't emancipate anything at all.

»

Society

French language: Why does the neutral pronoun "iel" arouse so much tension?

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  • Dictionary

  • French Academy

  • Inclusion

  • French language

  • Culture

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