Co/Cos
Co/cos is a 1970 feminist coinage still used in some intentional communities: co, co, cos, cos, coself.
- co
- co
- cos
- cos
Said: koh / koh / kohz / kohz / koh-SELF
The forms
| Subject | coco is here |
|---|---|
| Object | coI saw co |
| Possessive | coscos book |
| Possessive (standing alone) | costhat is cos |
| Reflexive | coselfby coself |
In a sentence
What it is
Co is the subject and the object; cos is the possessive in both positions; coself is the reflexive. Three words, all one syllable, and once you have heard "co said co would bring cos own" you have the whole thing.
It is one of the few neopronouns with a known author and a community that adopted it as house style rather than as a personal choice. Co was coined by the feminist writer Mary Orovan in 1970, and it went on to appear in the bylaws and everyday speech of egalitarian communities such as Twin Oaks, where it replaces he and she for everyone. Some individuals use it for themselves too, and that is who this page is for.
How to use it
- Co takes the singular verb: "co is", "co has", "co was".
- Co is the object too: "I saw co", "give it to co". No separate object word.
- Cos is the possessive in both positions: "cos bike" and "the bike is cos". Pronouns.page writes the standalone form as co's; the older community usage is cos for both, which is what this page uses.
- Say co to rhyme with go, cos to rhyme with goes. Coself is co plus self.
- In some communities co is used for everyone. If you are visiting one, that is the local grammar and it is not a statement about anyone's identity. For an individual who uses co, it is personal, and you use it for them alone.
Getting used to it
- Row it: co, co, cos, cos, coself. One syllable each. The only habit is remembering that co is the object as well.
- Write a sentence with co as the object at the end: "I will call co." It looks unfinished at first. It is finished.
- Read a page about an egalitarian community that uses it; the prose shows what it looks like at length, which a single example never does.
Where it comes from
On record. Co was coined by the feminist writer Mary Orovan in 1970. Wikipedia and Wiktionary both note its use in the intentional communities of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, including in their bylaws, and Wiktionary's earliest quotation is from a 1983 study of the Twin Oaks community. Pronouns.page adds that Orovan derived it from an Indo-European root.
Questions people ask
Is it cos or co's?
Both spellings exist for the standalone possessive. Community usage, as recorded on Wikipedia and Wiktionary, is cos in both positions; Pronouns.page gives co's for the standalone. Follow the person; if you have nothing to go on, cos is understood either way.
Where does co come from?
The feminist writer Mary Orovan coined it in 1970, and it was taken up by intentional communities in the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, where it appears in bylaws and everyday speech. Pronouns.page records the derivation as an Indo-European root. It is one of the better-documented sets.
Other sets
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