Resources on this page serve as a first stepping stone to the newest developments in the languages of Eastern Europe, where people have increasingly embraced diverse and inclusive modalities of grammar and vocabulary. They are directed at folks who are curious about queer modes of communication in this region, teachers looking for resources to share with their students, and students, eager to diversify their language skills. Most information is dedicated to non-binary uses of the languages in Eastern Europe, which have become commonplace among younger people in particular in the second decade of the 21st century.
This page will be constantly updated, so keep returning! If you have resources that you think should be added to this list, email the site admin Tatiana Klepikova at tatiana[dot]klepikova1[at]gmail[dot]com. We welcome input on the languages presented on the page and ones that are still missing.
INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY
An ACTR webinar on Gender-Inclusive Language and Practices for Teaching – YouTube
CZECH
In English and Czech
YouTube channel of a non-binary Czech living in the United States who explains non-binary challenges from the perspectives of both English and Czech (videos come with subtitles!) Intro video featured below, go to Person Who’s channel to watch other videos (Person Who – YouTube)
In Czech
A brief dictionary of LGBTQ+ terms by Prague Pride:
JAK PSÁT O PRAGUE PRIDE A LGBT TÉMATECH (praguepride.cz; PDF)
ESTONIAN
Reflections on gendered languages and gender-neutral Estonian:
Being Non-Binary in a Language Without Gendered Pronouns – Estonian – Deep Baltic
HUNGARIAN
A brief introduction to the gender-neutral Hungarian language:
POLISH
In English
An overview of opportunities to express non-binary genders in Polish:
An overview of Polish nonbinary pronouns • zaimki.pl
In Polish
A rich text corpus with a variety of examples of non-binary pronouns use in contemporary Polish literature
Niebinarna polszczyzna w tekstach kultury • zaimki.pl
A dictionary of LGBTQ+ terms / recommendations of queer-friendly language use in Polish:
Jak mówić i pisać o osobach LGBT – Etyka języka (etykajezyka.pl)
ROMANIAN
On the constraints of a Romance language for non-binary folks:
Romanian: The constraints of a binary language (meridian-magazine.com)
RUSSIAN
In Russian
A guide to using non-binary pronoun “oni” in Russian by Wonderzine:
Гид по местоимению «они»: Как его используют небинарные люди — Wonderzine
A dictionary of LGBTQ+ terms in Russian by the LGBT center in Kazan’:
Словарь гендерных и ЛГБТ+ терминов — Принятие (accept.center)
A short overview of feminitives in Russian:
«Как называются женщины»: 7 главных споров о феминитивах — Wonderzine
Reflections on the matronymic, or “matchestvo”:
Когда матчество заменяет отчество • Arzamas
“Марьевна — и точка!” Почему женщины меняют отчество на матроним – РИА Новости
In English
Moscow News reports on challenges of using non-binary language:
Lost for Words: Non-Binary Russians Fight the Limits of Their Language (themoscowtimes.com)
A US graduate student speaks about the experience of navigating the pronouns in Russian language:
Can You Be Nonbinary in Russian? | SEEJ (osu.edu)
SLOVAK
In Slovak
An article on obsolete queerphobic and current queer-friendly terms in Slovak:
Teplý, gej, lesba, bi… Ako hovoriť s LGBT ľuďmi bez toho, aby sme ich urazili (dennikn.sk)
SLOVENIAN
In Slovenian
A dictionary of LGBTQ+ terms in Slovenian
UKRAINIAN
In Ukrainian
On feminitives in Ukrainian:
«Навіщо підкреслювати стать?»: 5 відповідей на поширені питання про фемінітиви — Wonderzine
A manual for journalists on how to write about LGBTQ+ people:
on-line_kurs_ukr_web.pdf (insight-ukraine.org)
LGBTQ+ vocabulary list in Ukrainian:
ЛГБТК(ІА+): терміни, які потрібно знати у 2020 році | Platfor.ma
A Ukrainian-language overview of queer theory (contains a wealth of Queer and Gender Studies vocabulary used in context):
