Onu is a neopronoun in the Polish language intended as a gender-neutral pronoun, and an alternative to the gender-specific pronouns on ("he"), and ona ("she"). It is not officially accepted by the Polish Language Council.

History

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The Polish language does not have a personal gender-neutral pronoun recognized by the Polish Language Council. The most popular neopronoun, created to address nonbinary people, is onu. It was originally coined by science fiction and fantasy writer Jacek Dukaj, for his 2004 book Perfect Imperfection. From the surname of the author, this, and similar neopronouns created by him, are referred to as dukaizmy, and after a term coined by him, also known as the "post-gender pronouns" (Polish: zaimki postpłciowe).[1][2][3][4]

Declension

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Pronoun
Singular Plural
nominative onu ony
genitive jenu / nu / nienu ich / ich / nich
dative wu im
accusative nu ni
instrumental num nimi
locative num nich
[1][2]
As past tense suffix in verbs
Singular Plural
first
person
-um –ałuśmy
second
person
–uś –ałuście
third
person
–u –ły
adjectives –u –y
[1][2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "onu/jenu". zaimki.pl (in Polish).
  2. ^ a b c "ony/ich". zaimki.pl (in Polish).
  3. ^ Kinga Dunin (19 June 2021). "Mów do mnie, jak ci wygodnie. Nie sprowadzajmy problemów osób niebinarnych do zaimków". krytykapolityczna.pl (in Polish).
  4. ^ Tomasz Dec (20 June 2021). "dukaizm". nowewyrazy.pl (in Polish).