nounself pronoun

[ noun-self proh-noun ]

noun

1. a type of invented gender-neutral pronoun used by some nonbinary and genderqueer people in place of gendered pronouns such as he/himself or she/herself to express a spiritual or personal connection to a specific concept: the nounself pronoun is derived from a word, usually a noun, that is linked to that concept, such as the use of star/starself by people who feel a connection to celestial objects or bun/bunself , derived from bunny, by people who feel a connection to rabbits:

   Orion chose stars nounself pronouns as one way to remind starself that star is always connected to the sky above star.

Grammar Note

For most nounself pronouns, the root word itself serves as both the subject and object form of the pronoun, while the possessive is the noun plus an s, and the reflexive is the noun plus self. This is in contrast to traditional pronouns, where there's often more variety of form. For example, the subject pronoun he and the object pronoun him are different, but in a nounself pronoun based around the root word leaf, they'd both be the same—just the word leaf. A sentence with traditional pronouns could look something like this: When Don wanted to immerse himself in nature, he would visit Walden Pond and read his copy of Thoreau’s Walden to feel connected to the world around him. A sentence with nounself pronouns could look something like this: When Bud wants to express leafself andleafs love of nature, leaf uses leaf/leafself pronouns to feel connected to the world around leaf.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nounself pronoun¹

First recorded in 2010–15; noun ( def ) + self ( def ) + pronoun ( def )