Vocêseles

Vocêseles is a neologism that has appeared in discussions about pronouns in Portuguese. It blends the second-person pronoun você (you, singular) with eles/elas (they, masculine/feminine) to form a proposed gender-inclusive form intended to refer to a mixed group that includes the listener and others. The term is not part of standard grammar and is rarely used outside informal online discourse and linguistic experiments.

Formation and status: The word is a portmanteau created in contemporary discussions about inclusive language. It has no official status in dictionaries or style guides, and its spellings and usage vary among authors and communities. Because it is not codified, there is no single agreed-upon rule for its placement, agreement, or inflection.

Usage and examples: As an experimental form, vocêseles appears in various informal texts and discussions with differing conventions. Some writers imagine using it to address a group that includes the listener, while others discuss it as a way to signal inclusivity within a sentence. Examples found in online contexts are informal and nonstandard, and speakers may interpret or align it differently depending on context.

Reception and context: The proposal of vocêseles reflects broader debates about inclusive language in Portuguese, including how to address groups in ways that acknowledge gender diversity. Critics argue that neologisms can introduce ambiguity or complicate grammar, while supporters view them as tools for social inclusion and linguistic innovation.

See also: Inclusive language in Portuguese, gender-neutral pronouns, pronoun experimentation.