The currently-slang term “yo” has many uses in slang English. It is used by itself as an attention-getter: “Yo!” It is used as part of a greeting, as a sort of undefined pet name: “Sup, yo?” It is used as a shortened form of the word “your,” such as: “Yo mama!” I’ve even heard it in “fro-yo,” slang for “frozen yogurt.”

I recently learned about a discovery made almost two years ago by Dr. Elaine Stotko, who works in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, and her student, Margaret Troyer (main article here). In a master’s class taught by Stotko, they discovered that many Baltimore area middle- and high-school English teachers had noticed students using “yo” as a gender neutral singular pronoun (GNSP). They verified that the students were using “yo” as a subject (“Yo wearin’ a new coat”) and object pronoun (“I saw yo at school”). Stotko and Troyer also reported that students were using the word “yo” as a GNSP even when they knew, for example, that the person mentioned was a boy. The article by Grammar Girl is quite interesting and I encourage you to read it.

Now, while “yo” sounds like a slang word, I still really like it as a potential GNSP. I’ve heard of other GNSPs before, such as “ze,” “zim,” “hir,” “hym,” and “mer,” and more can be found here. But when I look at those pronouns I just listed, I can’t help but think that they don’t look and/or sound like the usual words we use in English. Some of them work in written word, but get confusing when spoken. Could you hear the difference between “hir” from “her”? If I said “ze,” might you think I said “she” and simply didn’t enunciate properly?

Differing from the norm isn’t a disqualifying trait by any means. But with language, isn’t it easier to learn a new word if it looks similar to one you already know? “Yo” is just one letter away from “you.” I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have a pronoun that looks like other pronouns commonly used. “Yo” has a completely distinct sound from all other common personal pronouns, yet wouldn’t stick out in a list or chart. This led me to muse, what would the possessive form be? “Yo’s”? I’d pronounce it “yOHs,” to rhyme with “rose.” It’s a little awkward, but I think with practice, it’d become just as natural as “hers” or “theirs.” (I think “theirs” is a little hard to say, anyway) And as strange as it sounds (both in theory and when I’ve used “yo” in speech), I like the idea of having the same word for the subject and object pronoun forms. It’s simpler, and since we aren’t too familiar (in English speaking culture) with using a personal GNSP, introducing one new word should be easier than introducing two.

I think we’re ready for a personal GNSP. I’m tired of hearing “one,” “they,” or “he” used improperly. I’m tired of implying gender when gender isn’t known or even relevant to a statement. Can we remain personal while being gender neutral? I hope we can. So, what about “yo”? Do you like it? Do you like something else better? Do you use other GNSPs in common speech?