Work

From “acteurs/actrices” to “zangers/zangeressen”: The Interpretation of Word Pairs and Generically Intended Masculine Role Nouns in Speakers of Dutch

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Though intended to refer to everyone, generically intended masculine role nouns are often interpreted as referring (primarily) to men. While the use of more inclusive forms counters this bias, previous studies have largely focused on languages with a salient masculine/feminine grammatical gender distinction and used measures that focus participants’ attention on gender. The present study uses an indirect measure and investigates Dutch, a grammatical gender language that has largely lost the distinction between masculine and feminine gender, but still uses gender-specific marking for role nouns. A total of 130 participants named the first three people they could think of when presented with either a word pair (e.g., zangers/zangeressen– “singers masculine /singers feminine ”) or a generically intended masculine ( zangers ). Compared to the generically intended masculine form, word pairs increased the mental availability of nonmen, suggesting that a more inclusive form facilitates activation of nonmasculine exemplars for speakers of Dutch as well.

Source: Journal of Language and Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1177/0261927x251386476

Authors: Femke Roos, Hannah De Mulder

Institution: Leiden University

Language: English

Topic: Gender Studies in Language

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650