A gender-neutral third-person pronoun has arisen spontaneously as a part of kids’ slang in Baltimore
Reasons I found this article incredibly fascinating:
1. It’s an example of language change being lead by the younger generation, as it normally is.
2. Prescriptivists freaking out in the comments.
3. Closed class words, which aren’t expected to change (such as pronouns), adapting a new form spontaneously. What.
This is fantastic. I wonder what the possessive form of “yo” is? Maybe yo’s? Or just yo again? Particularly since it’s derived from “your”. For now, I think I’ll keep using singular “they” when these situations arise, but I do like “yo” better than the ze/zir/zem/hir/etc conglomerate, so I think this is one to watch.
