[Lingtyp] Query re pronoun inventories

[Spike Gildea]

I have been contacted by an undergraduate student who is claiming that gender binary pronouns (masculine, feminine, maybe a neuter) are driven by cultural perspectives that limit the option — i.e., if your culture only recognizs two genders, that makes your pronouns binary, too. The question I asked is what about those cultures with three or four genders (as written up in National Geographic last year)? Do any of them have multiple genders in their personal pronouns, or are they just binary or even non-gendered? Any information and/or references would be welcome!

Best,
Spike