The official dictionary of the Swedish language is getting a fresh infusion of 13,000 new words, editors of the Swedish Academy have announced.
Among the additions is a gender-neutral pronoun. Instead of just he (han) and she (hon), there will now be hen as well.
The Guardian says: "The pronoun is used to refer to a person without revealing their gender — either because it is unknown, because the person is transgender, or the speaker or writer deems the gender to be superfluous information."
Sven-Goran Malmgren, one of the dictionary's editors, was quoted by The Independent as saying, "It is a word which is in use and without a doubt fills a function."
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