Summary

In this episode, Morana and Linda sit down with linguist Hielke Vriesendorp to discuss language norms from two angles: online grammar policing and emerging non-binary pronouns in Dutch. They explore how prescriptivism plays out on the internet, how Dutch speakers navigate pronoun choices like die and hen, and why survey design matters for inclusion. From punctuation debates to linguistic activism, Hielke shares insights on balancing broad trends with individual voices.

Episode highlights:

• From commas to Facebook grammar wars: Hielke’s first study revealed that online grammar discussions focus less on traditional syntax and more on punctuation and homophones.
• Non-binary Dutch pronouns: Unlike English’s singular they, Dutch speakers use forms like die, hen, and hun, with grammatical role heavily influencing choice.
• Pronouns & perception: Pronouns are highly salient today—politicized, negotiated, and deeply personal.
• Generalizing with care: Hielke reflects on the tension between visibility through generalization and preserving individual identity and nuance.
• Survey design & inclusion: Collaboration with Rory Wilson shows people prefer six-option gender questions that offer both recognition and flexibility.
• Polder Nederlands: Once seen as a modern innovation, this vowel shift has now become normalized in Dutch—demonstrating how prestige shifts over time.
• Macro, meso, micro variation: Hielke proposes using these sociolinguistic levels to capture both large-scale trends and local, embodied experience.
• The politics of standardization: Language norms often function as tools of inclusion and exclusion—and queer linguistics helps push back.

Linguistics fun fact:

Dutch non-binary pronouns aren’t just picked—they’re positioned. A speaker might use die as subject, but hen as object, and diens as possessive—all depending on the grammatical role in the sentence.

Links and resources mentioned:

• “The Internet’s New Usage Problems” – Hielke’s first publication in English Today (2016)
• Hielke’s paper on Macro, Micro, and Meso Approaches to Generalizing in Queer Linguistics (2024)
• Paper reporting the large-scale survey on Dutch non-binary pronouns in Nederlandse taalkunde (2024) (in Dutch)
• Vriesendorp & Wilson: Survey design paper on gender inclusivity (2024)
• Vriesendorp & Rutten. Polder Dutch publication (2019)