Esperanto

Pronoun

iŝi ‎(third person feminine plural, accusative iŝin, possessive iŝia)

1. (neologism, rare) they (female)

Usage notes

Not official. Proposed by Kálmán Kalocsay and Gaston Waringhien^[1] to better translate texts that were written in a language that has plural gender. They cited the biblical passage Matthew 28:10-11:

Tiam Jesuo diris al ili (LA VIRINOJ): Ne timu; iru, diru al miaj fratoj, ke ili foriru en Galileon, kaj tie ili min vidos. Kaj dum ili iris...

"Then Jesus said to them [the women], “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.” While they were going, ..."

It is obvious from context that "They will see me there" refers to the brothers. However, the identity of the "they" in "While they were going" is completely opaque. Kalocsay and Waringhien proposed the following solution:

Tiam Jesuo diris al iŝi: Ne timu, iru, diru al miaj fratoj, ke ili foriru en Galileon, kaj tie ili min vidos. Kaj dum iŝi iris..."

References

1. ↑ Plena Gramatiko de Esperanto, 3rd ed., pp 72-73, note 1