The Feminization of French Profession Words
Date
2008
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Abstract
In France, as in many other countries, women represent a significant part of the
work force and occupy fields previously exclusive to men. However, in the French
language many masculine profession, function and title words do not have a feminine
equivalent. The situation is complicated since not only are there controversies over
which form of the noun to use to denote women, but there is considerable variation in the
use of articles and adjectives used along with these nouns. Feminization is largely a
social issue; many argue that without it French is a sexist language, while others believe
that the feminine forms are derogatory and should not be used. In this paper I outline the
use of masculine and feminine nouns and articles to denote professionals, examine
arguments both in favor of and against the feminization of masculine nouns, and provide
the official opinions of several French language authorities. I then analyze the results of
a survey in which I ask French speakers of both French and foreign origin to provide
masculine and feminine forms of profession words. I also introduce the broader issue of
the androcentrism of the French language that goes far beyond the semantic category of
profession .