Editing They (section)

==Singular ''they''==
{{Main|Singular they}}

[[singular they|Singular ''they'']] is a use of ''they'' as an [[Epicenity|epicene]] (gender-neutral) pronoun for a singular [[referent]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bjorkman |first=B. |date=2017 |title=Singular they and the syntactic representation of gender in English |journal=Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=80 |doi=10.5334/gjgl.374 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='He or she' versus 'they' |date=15 December 2011 |work=OxfordDictionaries.com |url= http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/he-or-she-versus-they |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111215021401/http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/he-or-she-versus-they |archive-date=15 December 2011 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref> In this usage, ''they'' follows plural agreement rules (''they are'', not *''they is''), but the [[Semantics|semantic]] [[reference]] is singular. Unlike plural ''they'', singular ''they'' is only used for [[Person|people]]. For this reason, it could be considered to have personal [[Grammatical gender|gender]]. Some people refuse to use the epicene pronoun ''they'' when referring to individuals on the basis that it is primarily a plural pronoun instead of a singular pronoun.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Alex |last1=Hanna |first2=Nikki L. |last2=Stevens |first3=Os |last3=Keyes |first4=Maliha |last4=Ahmed |title=Actually, We Should ''Not'' All Use They/Them Pronouns |date=3 May 2019 |work=[[Scientific American|ScientificAmerican.com]] |department="Voices" blog |url= https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/actually-we-should-not-all-use-they-them-pronouns/ |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |first=Jessica |last=Murphy |title=Toronto professor Jordan Peterson takes on gender-neutral pronouns |date=4 November 2016 |work=[[BBC News]] |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37875695 |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Jason |last=McBride |title=The Pronoun Warrior |date=25 January 2017 |magazine=[[Toronto Life]] |url= https://torontolife.com/city/u-t-professor-sparked-vicious-battle-gender-neutral-pronouns/ |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref> However, the online edition of the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' records usage of ''they'' "referring to an individual generically or indefinitely", with examples dating to 2008–2009.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.oed.com/dictionary/they_pron?tab=meaning_and_use&tl=true#1288185420 |title=they: pronoun |at=I.2.b. |date=2013 |work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |edition=online |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=26 November 2023}}</ref>

===Word of the year===
In December 2019, [[Merriam-Webster]] chose singular ''they'' as word of the year. The word was chosen because "English famously lacks a gender-neutral singular pronoun to correspond neatly with singular pronouns like everyone or someone, and as a consequence ''they'' has been used for this purpose for over 600 years."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Locker |first=Melissa |title=Merriam Webster Names 'They' As Its Word of the Year for 2019 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=10 December 2019 |url= https://time.com/5746516/merriam-webster-word-of-the-year-2019/ |access-date=10 December 2019}}</ref>