Shifting social norms as a driving force for linguistic change: Struggles about language and gender in the German Bundestag

Abstract

This paper focuses on language change based on shifting social norms, in particular with regard to the debate on language and gender. It is a recurring argument in this debate that language develops naturally and that severe interventions – such as gender-inclusive language is often claimed to be – are inappropriate and even dangerous. Such ‘interventions’ are, however, not unprecedented. Socially motivated processes of language change are neither unusual nor new. We focus on one important socio-political space in Germany, the German Bundestag. Taking other struggles about language, gender, and sexuality in the plenaries of the Bundestag as a starting point, our article illustrates that language and gender has been a recurring issue in the German Bundestag since the 1980s. We demonstrate how this is reflected in linguistic practices of the Bundestag, regarding a) the use of self-chosen desig- nations for gays and lesbians; b) naming practices for women in political positions; and c) more gender-inclusive legal language. Lastly, we discuss implications of these earlier language battles for the currently very heated debate about gender-inclusive language, especially regarding new forms with gender symbols like the asterisk or the colon (Lehrer*innen, Lehrer:innen ‘male*female teachers’) which are intended to encompass all gender identities.