Processing differences between traditional, gender-specific language and
two recent variants of gender-neutral language were examined in a
sentence-by-sentence self-paced reading experiment carried out in 85 native
speakers of River Plate Spanish, 43 young adults and 42 old adults, 39
women and 46 men.
We created 18 experimental and 18 filler items of two sentences each.
Experimental items had three identical versions, except for the gender
morpheme in the plural noun of Sentence 2, which varied between traditional
*-o*, inclusive *-e* or *-x*. A mixed ANOVA evidenced a general
penalization of gender-neutral language. Surprisingly, people of different
ages and gender went through this process in a similar way.
For any question or comment, you can contact me via Skype
(anitazarwanitzer) or email (anazarwanitzer@gmail.com).