Gender star

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The gender star (German: Genderstern, or diminutive Gendersternchen; lit. 'gender asterisk') is a nonstandard typographic style used by some authors in gender-neutral language in German.^[1]

It is formed by placing an asterisk after the stem and appending the feminine plural suffix "-innen". For example, Fahrer ([male] driver, singular & plural) becomes Fahrer*innen (drivers). The gender star makes it possible to refer to all genders while also including non-binary people.^[2]

In speech, the gender star is sometimes signalled by a glottal stop.^[3][4]

Alternatives to the gender star include Binnen-I (with medial capital I), the gender gap (where an underscore takes the place of the asterisk) or using inherently gender neutral terms, such as 'people' instead of 'man' or 'woman'.^[5]

The gender star was named the German Anglicism of the Year in 2018 by the Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache.^[6]