Inclusive language

In its report on the papal conclave on Wednesday the Independent said (my emphasis):

each cardinal swore a solemn oath with their hand on the Bible not to reveal the secrets of their deliberations

In today’s Errors and Omissions column it recognises the problem:

But the cardinals are all men. There would have been no problem at all about writing: “Each cardinal swore a solemn oath with his hand on the Bible.” So the question arises: is the use of “they” in a singular sense becoming simply habitual, regardless of gender issues? Can we expect “he” and “she” to lose further ground as the decades pass?

I suspect that the answer to that question is yes. I discuss the problems surrounding inclusive language in A Guide to English Language Usage. I say:

when a general singular reference is made to a teacher, doctor or driver for example, there is no satisfactory solution: When a teacher speaks to a child, he or she must…; A doctor must respect his/her patients. Such forms are inelegant in print and almost impossible in speech. Some people choose to use the masculine pronouns, or rather the more probable one: In 2020, whoever is the President of Iran will find that his country…; A primary school teacher may have up to thirty children in her class.

The Huffington Post writes

each cardinal elector will touch the Holy Gospels and “promise, pledge and swear” to uphold the oath.

I do not doubt that it was written that way naturally with no deliberate intention of avoiding the problem but working a sentence in such a way that the problem does not arise is certainly an option

One convenient solution that is sometimes appropriate is to use a plural: Primary school teachers may have up to thirty children in their classes or a definite article: A primary school teacher may have up to thirty children in the class.

It seems unreasonable, however, that a particular form of expression should be made unavailable because the precise meaning of the language does not coincide with the reality of the world. The first edition of A Guide to English Language Usage, published in 2007 but with this article written five years or more earlier, referred to the President of the USA instead of Iran. After Hillary Clinton’s perfectly plausible bid for the presidency in 2008 I felt that this had to be changed.

There is no doubt that the use of they with singular reference is firmly established in the language and I am sure that it will become more widespread. I have written on this matter before, describing what seemed to be an unfortunate example. Nevertheless, it is not clear how far this change will go. I write:

Anyone who has found themselves alone in a forest at night… sounds unusual; the combination of singular and plural is strange.

but it may be that in a future edition of the book I will need to revise my article on inclusive language.