<p>Are you sure of your facts? Did “他”previously hold this sway? Do you have any evidence of this?</p>
<p>In ancient ancient times there was only one pronoun: &quot;he.&quot;<br />
从前只有一个代词：“他”。</p>
<p>Nowadays, we use three pronouns &quot;he, she, it.&quot;<br />
现在我们有“他，她和它”三个代词。</p>
<p>重申：再次申述：reaffirm ; reiterate ; repeat ; renew ; restate ; reassert</p>
<p>I am just writing an article about reclaiming &quot; 他&quot; as a general purpose pronoun.<br />
我正在写一篇关于重申“他”作为代词统称的文章。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-31T19:41:33.873Z
IIRC from school, 他 was gender-inclusive before the New Culture Movement when 刘半农 introduced 她. See also: [刘半农与“她”的故事](https://web.archive.org/web/20180929085032/http://www.gmw.cn/content/2004-07/20/content_60982.htm) and [A Cultural History of the Chinese Character “Ta (She)”—On the invention and identification of a new female pronoun](https://www.harvard-yenching.org/research/cultural-history-of-the-chinese-character-ta/)
Runxi Yu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-31T20:14:03.277Z
Extremely interesting! The Chinese were motivated by a twentieth century desire to emulate English? Old English had: he, heo, hit = he,she,it,. she derives from Old English seo, the feminine Nominative of 'that'. The masculine 'that', se gave us Modern English 'the'. Still to explain is why 他人 means "other people". And, of course, why gender would be important!
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-31T06:42:42.363Z
2023-07-31T06:42:42.363Z
Pedroski
<p>Not a 1:1 direct translation, but how about &quot;恢复&quot; (restore) or &quot;回归&quot; (return)?</p>
<p>让
&quot;他&quot;
<strong>回归</strong> (return to) / <strong>恢复</strong> (restore)
其 (its)
性别包容 (gender-inclusive)
的
本义 (original meaning)</p>
<p>IMO, this is a more natural way to express what you mean.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-31T00:50:19.370Z
Since "recover" is very close to"reclaim", I think "恢复" is a good choice.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-30T23:31:15.347Z
2023-07-30T23:31:15.347Z
王博龙
<p>I am drafting an article about reclaiming &quot;他&quot; as a gender-inclusive pronoun. I wonder what &quot;reclaim&quot; could be translated into.</p>
<p>Some translations that I have found via online translation utilities and dictionaries include the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>&quot;重拾&quot;</li>
<li>&quot;挽回&quot;</li>
<li>&quot;重新定义&quot; (too long, leading to bad rhythm; &quot;定义&quot; presupposes prescriptive instead of descriptive linguistic context)</li>
<li>&quot;讨回&quot; (has connotation of begging, may be self-patronizing)</li>
<li>&quot;要求归还&quot; (grammatically awkward; missing noun)</li>
<li>&quot;夺回&quot; (too aggressive)</li>
</ul>
<p>(The linguistics of the &quot;他&quot; pronoun itself is outside of the scope of this question.)</p>

<translation>
Translating "reclaim" (in the context of linguistic social movements)
# Translating "reclaim" (in the context of linguistic social movements)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-30)

I am drafting an article about reclaiming "他" as a gender-inclusive pronoun. I wonder what "reclaim" could be translated into.

Some translations that I have found via online translation utilities and dictionaries include the following:

* "重拾"
* "挽回"
* "重新定义" (too long, leading to bad rhythm; "定义" presupposes prescriptive instead of descriptive linguistic context)
* "讨回" (has connotation of begging, may be self-patronizing)
* "要求归还" (grammatically awkward; missing noun)
* "夺回" (too aggressive)

(The linguistics of the "他" pronoun itself is outside of the scope of this question.)

**Tags:** translation

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-07-31. Score: 1

Are you sure of your facts? Did “他”previously hold this sway? Do you have any evidence of this?

In ancient ancient times there was only one pronoun: "he."  
从前只有一个代词：“他”。

Nowadays, we use three pronouns "he, she, it."  
现在我们有“他，她和它”三个代词。

重申：再次申述：reaffirm ; reiterate ; repeat ; renew ; restate ; reassert

I am just writing an article about reclaiming " 他" as a general purpose pronoun.  
我正在写一篇关于重申“他”作为代词统称的文章。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: IIRC from school, 他 was gender-inclusive before the New Culture Movement when 刘半农 introduced 她. See also: [刘半农与“她”的故事](https://web.archive.org/web/20180929085032/http://www.gmw.cn/content/2004-07/20/content_60982.htm) and [A Cultural History of the Chinese Character “Ta (She)”—On the invention and identification of a new female pronoun](https://www.harvard-yenching.org/research/cultural-history-of-the-chinese-character-ta/)  
> **username_1**: Extremely interesting! The Chinese were motivated by a twentieth century desire to emulate English? Old English had: he, heo, hit = he,she,it,. she derives from Old English seo, the feminine Nominative of 'that'. The masculine 'that', se gave us Modern English 'the'. Still to explain is why 他人 means "other people". And, of course, why gender would be important!  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-07-30. Score: 1

Not a 1:1 direct translation, but how about "恢复" (restore) or "回归" (return)?

让
"他"
**回归** (return to) / **恢复** (restore)
其 (its)
性别包容 (gender-inclusive)
的
本义 (original meaning)

IMO, this is a more natural way to express what you mean.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Since "recover" is very close to"reclaim", I think "恢复" is a good choice.  

---

