damienrouge:

Interesting stuff learned today :

“Neutral gender (in French)”

The “neutral” seems to have existed in a very exceptional and regional way, in the form of personal pronoun “Zou”, employed till the end of XIX century in the center of France, particulary the Berry region…

And it also seem that “Philippe” is a name that can be used for both men and women.

“PHILIPPE ! JE SAIS OU TU TE CACHES !” 

– un.e linguiste français.e dans le Berry