Everything you should know, including how to pronounce it properly.
Let’s be honest: “X” is one of those strange, outcast letters shoved to the back of the alphabet. So perhaps it’s fitting that in recent years, this letter has been breaking new ground by taking on an unusual new form: “X” is now being used to disrupt gendered languages as a controversial suffix.
If you’ve seen the word Latinx, you’re familiar with this usage: Here, the “x” replaces an “a” or “o” traditionally used to assign a Spanish word masculine or feminine gender. The result is a big, bold term used by those who say that the Spanish language should integrate gender-neutral options — especially for those who don’t want to be called “Latino,” “Latina,” or other gendered words.
The effort to merge “x” into previously gendered terms is a pretty radical decision, considering that the Spanish language has ancient roots reaching back to a dialect developed in the 9th century. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, critics around the world — including many people of Latin American descent — are fighting against the rise of this disruption.
If you’re confused by the controversy, get in line; the word has slipped into our lives without much context, after all. In case you need an official breakdown of this new vocabulary, we’re dissecting the meaning of Latinx, where it came from, why it’s gained popularity, and why it’s so contentious.
What does Latinx mean?
The Oxford English dictionary defines Latinx as “a person of Latin American origin or descent.”
You’re probably wondering, Didn’t we already have a term for that? We absolutely did (and still do) — “Latino” or “Latina” also describe a person of Latin American descent. You may have used “Hispanic” as an equivalent, too. So what was the trouble with those long-standing terms?
In Spanish, nouns and most adjectives must take on either a masculine or feminine form — there’s no way to refer to oneself or another person using a gender-neutral term like “they” or “them.” Latinx emerged as an alternative for people who don’t feel like the words “Latino” (masculine) or “Latina” (feminine) aptly describe their gender identity. “Hispanic,” in turn, is gender neutral but detractors argue that the word is too Eurocentric.
A similar alternative to Latinx — “Latine” — has also emerged in an effort to shift the Spanish language away from binary masculine or feminine options.
How do you pronounce Latinx?
If you’ve ever avoided saying Latinx aloud for fear of embarrassment over mispronunciation, you’re not alone. Well, we’re here to help clear things up — sort of.
Most commonly, you’ll hear people pronounce the word “LAT-in-EX.” That said, “lah-TEE-nex” is also acceptable. Sometimes, you’ll even hear people use “’lah-TEENKS.”
Basically, don’t stress too hard over getting everything just right — use what feels right. After all, the upside of watching a new word forming before our eyes is that we’re collectively writing the rules together.
Where did the term come from, anyway?
The word Latinx has roots in early Internet culture — the word came about around the same time it became increasingly common to keep a clunky desktop in the family den.
In the late 90s, keyboard warriors first began using “Latin@” as a gender-neutral alternative. Eventually, “Latin@” fell out of favor online as social media developed — which makes sense, since the “@” symbol was suddenly being used to tag usernames. But “Latin@” set a precedent for gender-neutral Spanish language words being developed in online spaces.
Latinx, according to Arlene Gamio’s Latinx: A Brief Guidebook, first appeared online in 2004; LGTBQ groups in online forums were the first users.
This new word wouldn’t make much of a larger cultural splash for a while, though — Gamio clarifies that Latinx really took off in 2015, among “college students, academics, and social media users” in the U.S. In contrast, Latinx has had “varied usage” amongst people in Latin America.
Why is Latinx controversial?
Since Latinx specifically exists for people of Latin American descent, you’d think that the term would be fairly popular within those communities. However, that’s not the case. A 2020 Pew Research poll shows that only 23 percent of U.S. Hispanic or Latino adults had even heard the word “Latinx.” And just six percent of these U.S. adults actually use the word Latinx to describe themselves. A 2021 poll even found that 40 percent of respondents found the term Latinx offensive.
One of the biggest complaints about the term Latinx comes from Spanish speakers who say that the term fundamentally misinterprets the Spanish language. In 2019, Giancarlo Sopo wrote for USA Today that English speakers don’t understand that masculine nouns are gender-neutral in Spanish: “…Latinos’ is inclusive in both languages and substitutes like ‘Latin’ and ‘Hispanic’ can adequately describe the population that is Latino and nonbinary.”
Sopo goes on to point out that the Spanish language is spoken by hundreds of millions of people internationally. In contrast, the term Latinx has historically been used primarily in the U.S. Detractors argue that Americans shouldn’t have the power to change the language used daily by so many people around the world, especially since pronouncing the “x” suffix can be difficult for a Spanish speaker with no English fluency.
It’s probably not surprising that politicians have waded into the fray; in 2023, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders banned many state agencies from using the term.
“One of the things as governor that I will not permit is the government using culturally insensitive words,” Sanders said, signing the order.
The divisiveness over Latinx crosses the political aisle. In 2021, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego tweeted that he didn’t allow his office to use the word in communications because “Latino politicos use the term…largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use.”
The controversy hasn’t stopped the growth of the “x” suffix, though. In recent years, similar terms have cropped up despite all the pushback: “Filipinx” now exists as a gender-neutral alternative to “Filipino” or “Filipina,” and “Italianx” has the same purpose.
Ultimately, there are over 20 “Latino” countries on the planet, which doesn’t count the many diasporas. Plus, there are almost infinite ways to self-describe: Some Latinos aren’t Spanish speakers, others have entirely indigenous ancestry, and many have never visited Latin America. Each of these people has a different perception of which words best describe themselves — meaning that finding an option that they all approve of may be easier said than done.
