Great News! The new edition of Treccani vocabulary will no longer favour masculine but will propose both the feminine and masculine form of names and adjectives that will be listed in alphabetical order. As a result, we also have the introduction of new nouns including the female names of medical, architect, notary, soldier but also the masculine names of household, embroiderer and many others.
The choice was motivated by «right and equal dignity for men and women». Finally!
It’s a small victory, perhaps insignificant for some. “It’s just a feminine noun, whatever, it’s not life changing! What conquest is it? You need more… What a sign of respect and equality is it?” Others even consider these new terms cacophonic.. Of course, these words sound strange because they are new, it’s just a matter of habit. Change and novelty are always strange otherwise they would not be changes and novelties don’t you think so?
How do we pretend to be an inclusive society if our language is not coherent to this thought? This is a real victory because the new nouns debunk gender stereotypes that in today’s society no longer exist, or rather… They should not exist anymore! Not only men are lawyers or soldiers and not only women take care of household chores and children. It’s right that the change of society mentality is also reflected in our language.
Just think how frustrating can be for a lawyer (how satisfying is it to write it down in Italian (avvocatA) and know that it’s grammatically correct?) to fill out forms all filled in masculine version. Yes, it’s true, it’s not a problem of world importance, we have not solved hunger in the world but it is still a small achievement in everyday life!
As Paulo Coelho said in the Accra Manuscript: “Small things are responsible for great changes.”
