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Article published In: Linguistics in the Netherlands 2023
Edited by Sterre Leufkens and Marco Bril
[Linguistics in the Netherlands 40] 2023
► pp. 194–209

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Is ‘he’ still here?

Exploring the contemporary use of masculine subject pronouns for women in Dutch dialects

 | Tilburg University
 | Tilburg University
 | Tilburg University | Meertens Institute
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Tilburg University.

Published online: 3 November 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/avt.00087.pie
Abstract
Various non-standard language varieties in the Netherlands traditionally allow for the use of masculine personal subject pronouns (i.e. regionally distinct variants of hij ‘he’) in reference to women. While this practice is well-documented within Dutch dialectology, especially during the twentieth century, it is unclear to what extent this feature still exists nowadays. Moreover, the use of masculine subject forms for female reference has not previously been described for Limburgian dialects. This paper offers a start to filling these gaps, by providing insight into the contemporary use of ‘he’ for women in Dutch dialects, with a specific focus on occurrences in Dutch Limburg. We report on a Twitter query and three interviews, showing (i) that the use of ‘he’ for women still exists in various Dutch dialects, and (ii) how native speakers of a Limburgian dialect use and perceive this feature of their dialect.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A Twitter query
  • 3.Interviews
    • 3.1A conspicuous local feature
    • 3.2Hae in everyday conversations
    • 3.3Referents
    • 3.4Hae vs. het
    • 3.5A gender-neutral term?
  • 4.Discussion
  • Data availability
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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Doreleijers, Kristel, Jeroen Van Craenenbroeck & Marjo Van Koppen
2025. Pronominal Gender in Dutch: Apparent-Time Change in Lexical versus Semantic Agreement. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 37:2 ► pp. 190 ff. DOI logo
Piepers, Joske, Ad Backus & Jos Swanenberg
2025. Sociopragmatic pronouns in Limburgian: inferring speakers’ agency from self-reported automaticity, attitudes, and metalinguistic awareness. Cognitive Linguistics 36:1 ► pp. 89 ff. DOI logo

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