Translating nonbinary gender expressions from English to Arabic

Lately, the topic of “gender” seems to have charged and divided societies around the world, especially in the U.S., where it is also a recurring theme in television series.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue – when Netflix series are shown in other countries, the creators of subtitles in particular have to find a way to deal with it and present the topic. Apart from the religious and social barriers in Islamic countries, there are also language barriers in Arabic.

A study by four researchers from Arab universities (published in August 2024) has looked at how this is dealt with in practice and what difficulties Netflix subtitlers faced in rendering gender-neutral pronouns and terms in Arabic, particularly focusing on two shows: Degrassi Next Class and One Day at a Time.

This article presents the research highlights and examines how cultural perceptions and grammatical limitations in Arabic create translation problems.

The gendered nature of Arabic

Arabic is a deeply gendered language, e.g., verbs (فِعْلٌ) must agree with the subject, adjectives (نَعْتٌ) with the noun they describe.

In Arabic, nouns (اِسْمٌ) are either masculine or feminine. Nouns for things are usually classified as one of these, while those for people or living things often have both forms.

• The masculine form is standard; the feminine is marked by ﺓ for singular and ات for plural. Dual forms use تانِ or تَيْنِ.
• Feminine forms are for all-female groups; otherwise, masculine forms are used, indicating a male-centered language.
• Grammatical gender agreement is also necessary in the first-person form in Arabic (أنا) which causes new challenges.

➤ In Arabic, gender is inflected in all parts of speech, so it is not enough to simply find and use gender-neutral pronouns.

In addition to the linguistic hurdles, it is also important to consider how societies view this, as language, culture, religion and mentalities cannot be separated so easily.

Queerness in Arab cultures

As the researchers note, the general perception in Arabic-speaking cultures ties gender identity to biological sex, which leads to a significant cultural barrier in translation. In most Arab countries, being queer is not accepted and can lead to severe legal issues. However, there have been some recent changes.

• In January 2016, the Beirut Court of Appeals confirmed the right of a transgender man to change his official documents, granting him access to necessary treatment. Transgender people in Lebanon must undergo sex reassignment surgery to change their legal gender.
• The Algerian boxer Imane Khelif (إيمان خليف) won gold in women’s boxing at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 – and sparked a debate. It was interesting to note that at least the official reactions from Algeria had backed Imane.

Object of research: two Netflix shows

Degrassi: Next Class

Degrassi: Next Class is a Canadian teen drama series about high school students at Degrassi Community School. It started on Netflix in January 2016.

The show follows a diverse group of teens dealing with adolescence, tackling issues such as mental health, relationships, identity, and social pressures. It portrays Generation Z’s experiences, aiming for a realistic depiction of modern high school life. The character Yael Baron comes out as non-binary and begins using singular they/them pronouns.

One Day at a Time

One Day at a Time is a new version of the 1975 sitcom about a Cuban-American family in Los Angeles. Premiering on Netflix in January 2017, the series ran for four seasons, concluding in 2020.

It follows Penelope Alvarez, a single Army veteran, living with her kids, Elena and Alex, and her mother, Lydia. In season 2 (2018), Elena starts dating Syd, a nonbinary lesbian who uses they/them pronouns, and becomes a recurring character.

Research approach

The methodology employed by the researcher involved analyzing the Arabic subtitles provided by Netflix for scenes centered on non-binary characters from both shows. The researchers were looking for inconsistencies in pronoun usage, misgendering, and inappropriate translation choices.

Inconsistencies in gender-neutral renderings

In Degrassi: Next Class, inconsistency in the translation is a recurring issue.

In one scene, Yael is referred to as they, but the subtitler switches between masculine plural (هم), dual (هما), and singular feminine (هي), which erases Yael’s nonbinary identity. For instance, when the characters discuss Yael’s pronouns, the Arabic subtitles read (هما سعيدات) instead of using a more neutral form like (هم سعداء). This confusion reflects a lack of awareness regarding nonbinary pronouns.

Some examples from the researchers:

Let’s see what the researcher concluded from these examples.

Translating the word “trans”

In Arabic, transgender is often translated as مُتَحَوِّلٌ جِنْسيًّا. It is the active participle (اِسْمُ الْفاعِلِ) of the V-verb تَحَوَّلَ – يَتَحَوَّلُ which means: to change (into); to transform (into).

The word trans in transwoman in the example of the Netflix series Degrassi uses a feminine marker: مُتَحَوِّلةٌ. But is that correct? We will see.

In English, trans is an adjective in transman and transwoman.

• A transman is a man who was assigned female at birth.
• A transwoman is a woman who was assigned male at birth.

Yael was assigned female at birth, so they’d be considered transmasculine if they are transgender. If someone asks if they are trans, they’d be asking if they are a transman.

➤ Therefore, the correct Arabic term would be masculine: مُتَحَوِّلٌ.

Using the feminine form results in misgendering by the subtitlers, showing ignorance or disregard for transgender issues, especially since this mistake was repeated.

Furthermore, the researchers added, there is another layer of disrespect towards the trans community in the choice of the Arabic label. The term مُتَحَوِّلةٌ / مُتَحَوِّلٌ, which was used in the subtitles is a slur akin to the English term tranny. It is perhaps better to use the term عابِرٌ and respectively عابِرةٌ.

If sex and gender are unknown

The example of a vlogger who identifies as genderqueer is quite tricky.

In the above table, we see the English original, which says: “My favorite vlogger did a thing about this. – They identify as genderqueer.“

Since this individual never appears in the TV show, their biological sex and assigned gender at birth (AGAB) are never stated or clarified. This means that the subtitlers could not have fallen back on biological sex when deciding on the gendering used in the translation.

• In the first line, the subtitlers used singular masculine language in Arabic: صاحب المدونة المرئية المفضل
• In the second line of the example, Lola uses they/them pronouns to refer to the vlogger, and the subtitlers switched to using the masculine plural in Arabic: إنهم يعرفون

Feminine language does not work well within Arabic grammar and should be avoided in gender-neutral speech to prevent misunderstandings.

Translating “gender-fluid”

Recognition of trans and nonbinary identities is limited among the Arab population, making it challenging to translate specific terms. The English term gender has recently been adopted by Arabic speakers and is the most commonly used in queer language.

The terms genderqueer and genderfluid were directly mentioned in the English source of the dialogue. Instead of applying the commonly used Arabic term جَنْدَريّةٌ مُرُونةٌ (lit.: gender flexibility), the subtitlers literally translated the components of the English terms into Arabic: غير الثابتين جنسيًا.

This technique is called calque. In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word translation. The researchers argue that using calque to translate queer terminology paints queerness as something foreign, which could further socially alienate Arab queer people.

Expressing inclusivity

In the example above, the translators indicated the existence of only two genders by subtitling the phrase boy and girl with the two genders (dual!): بين الجنسين.

While both the source and target text refer to two genders, the Arabic rendition employs the definite article, which implies exclusivity, unlike the source text, which lists two genders in isolation.

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The issue with non-binary pronouns in Arabic

They is commonly used in English to refer to more than one person. However, they can also be used to refer to one person without specifying gender.

In the Netflix show Degrassi, Yael chooses to use they as a pronoun. Unlike English, Arabic doesn’t have a gender-neutral pronoun by default and includes singular, plural, and dual forms.

Some examples from the researchers:

Let’s see what the researcher concluded from these examples.

The pronoun ‘ze’

In the example above, the characters are discussing pronouns, and one of them (Lola) suggests the neopronoun ze as a gender-neutral alternative for she and he. The translation omits the neopronoun, and no attempt has been made to find an equivalent.

Furthermore, the translation uses feminine language even though the conversation is about gender-neutral language.

• English has one second-person pronoun, you, used for any gender or number.
• In contrast, Arabic has different pronouns for gender and number, like singular feminine, singular masculine, plural feminine, plural masculine, and a dual form that shows gender through agreement.

The dual in Arabic

The dual pronoun in Arabic can be gender-neutral in itself; however, when it comes to agreement, gender is indicated by markers.

➤ This means that the use of the dual pronoun alone is not sufficient to achieve gender neutrality, as verbs and adjectives also indicate gender.

The researchers propose the following in the article:

The feminine plural in Arabic

Since Arabic is “male-biased”, feminine pronouns and agreement are only used when the entirety of the group is female; otherwise, the masculine is used even if there is only one male in a female majority group.

The masculine plural ‘they’

The main issue is that the masculine and feminine plural pronouns differ in Arabic.

➤ So you cannot just use هُمْ.

However, the researchers hold the opinion that it is not entirely incorrect either, since the masculine plural is also used for mixed-gendered groups as well and is used by many Arabic-speaking nonbinary people. The main issue usually lies with the translator’s inconsistency.

Translation techniques

Using incorrect gendered forms is the main problem because they indicate gender. Even if you use the right gendered words, it won’t matter if the other parts of the sentence don’t match.

In other words, agreement (مطابقة) in Arabic is crucial.

Agreement in Arabic means to adjust four things:

The researchers identify three main subtitling techniques that could be improved upon for more accurate representation of nonbinary identities in Arabic:

• Grammatical Gender Neutrality: Although Arabic lacks gender-neutral pronouns, translators have to find a way to translate the English pronoun they. They may use the masculine plural (هُمْ) to avoid misgendering, but there is one important thing to remember: The chosen form should be used consistently to maintain gender neutrality and not confuse the reader or listener.
• Gender-Neutral Language Adaptation: Instead of directly translating gender-specific terms, translators can restructure sentences to avoid gendered language. For example, instead of translating she uses pronouns (هي تَسْتَخْدِمَ الضَّمائِرَ), translators can opt for the passive voice and say (تُسْتَخْدَمُ الضَّمائِرُ) to neutralize the verb and avoid gender altogether.
• Cultural Sensitivity and Education: There is a need for translators to become familiar with the language and terminology used by Arabic-speaking LGBTQ+ communities. Terms like gender (جندر) and fluid (مُرُونة) are already borrowed into Arabic and could be used in subtitling. Additionally, Arabic queer communities use terms like (عابِر) for trans which could replace culturally insensitive terms.

You can access the full research paper here.