Andorian Gender: Difference between revisions

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The Andorian and Aenar species have four distinct sexes and a union between all four sexes, an act known as the ''shelthreth'', is required for procreation. Two of the genders, thaan and chan appear what humans would approximately call masculine, and the other two genders, zhen and shen, appear what humans would approximately call feminine. Most Andorians and Aenar accept the terms "male" and "female", and the commonly associated gendered pronouns, while dealing with species who more closely identify as primarily binary gendered out of a desire to not get involved in a discussion of gender and reproduction.
The Andorian and Aenar species have four distinct sexes and a union between all four, an act known as the ''shelthreth'', is required for procreation. Thaan and chan are treated by outsiders as masculine, and zhen and shen as feminine. Most Andorians and Aenar tolerate this, and the associated gendered pronouns in languages that use them, while dealing with species who identify as primarily binary gendered out of a desire to not get involved in a discussion on gender and reproduction. Chan and shen can sometimes be difficult to tell apart, often considered androgynous by some, and will accept or even prefer gender neutral pronouns when a language has them in addition to gendered pronouns.


== Biological Sex and Reproduction ==
== Biological Sex and Reproduction ==
In the primary Andorian language, the distinctions are as follows:
The gametes of the thaan and chan contribute approximately a quarter of the chromosomes necessary to produce offspring, and both must fertilize the shen's egg in order to produce a zygote. If this is successful, the shen will then transfer it to the zhen's pouch, where it will finish out the remainder of the gestation process. The zhen does not contribute genetically to the child.
* ''zhen'' - This sex roughly corresponds to female, and is the sex of the Andorian who will carry the zygote to term.
* ''shen'' - This sex also roughly corresponds to female and is where all Andorian life originates. Although the ''zhen'' carries the infant, the child begins as gametes from the ''shen''.
* ''chan'' - This sex roughly corresponds to male.
* ''thaan'' - This sex also roughly corresponds to male.
 
=== Reproductive process ===
The gametes of each "male" sex contain one quarter of the number of chromosomes necessary to produce offspring. During the conception of an Andorian child, the ''thaan'' fertilizes a ''shen'''s egg with his gamete. The ''chan'' then also fertilizes the egg. This produces a fertilized egg that develops into a zygote. The ''shen'' then transfers the zygote to the ''zhen'''s pouch, where it develops into an embryo. The Andorian fetus is incubated and nourished to term in the ''zhen'''s pouch. The ''zhen'' does not contribute genetically to offspring.


=== Name prefixes ===
=== Name prefixes ===
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== Meta ==
== Meta ==
Selected information acquired from [http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Andorian_genders Andorian genders] on [http://memory-beta.wikia.com Memory Beta]. Aspects are modified in an attempt to be more gender inclusive in nonrecognition of the complexity of human gender beyond binary. The history section is left out entirely, due to it's frequent back and forth nature that does nothing to add value to the species.
Selected information acquired from [http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Andorian_genders Andorian genders] on [http://memory-beta.wikia.com Memory Beta]. Aspects are modified in an attempt to be more gender inclusive. The history section is left out entirely, due to it's frequent back and forth nature that is a symptom of soft canon not being required to be consistent across authors.


[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Culture]]

Revision as of 16:27, 1 April 2023

The Andorian and Aenar species have four distinct sexes and a union between all four, an act known as the shelthreth, is required for procreation. Thaan and chan are treated by outsiders as masculine, and zhen and shen as feminine. Most Andorians and Aenar tolerate this, and the associated gendered pronouns in languages that use them, while dealing with species who identify as primarily binary gendered out of a desire to not get involved in a discussion on gender and reproduction. Chan and shen can sometimes be difficult to tell apart, often considered androgynous by some, and will accept or even prefer gender neutral pronouns when a language has them in addition to gendered pronouns.

Biological Sex and Reproduction

The gametes of the thaan and chan contribute approximately a quarter of the chromosomes necessary to produce offspring, and both must fertilize the shen's egg in order to produce a zygote. If this is successful, the shen will then transfer it to the zhen's pouch, where it will finish out the remainder of the gestation process. The zhen does not contribute genetically to the child.

Name prefixes

In some Andorian linguistic traditions, Andorians have name prefixes which indicate which of the four genders they are. The prefixes thus encountered are as follows.

  • Zhen - zh' (eg. Shathrissia zh'Cheen, Charivretha zh'Thane)
  • Shen - sh' (eg. Pava Ek'Noor sh'Aqabaa, Avaranthi sh'Rothress)
  • Chan - ch' (eg. Thirishar ch'Thane, Thanashal ch'Shonnas)
  • Thaan - th' (eg. Thelianaresth th'Vorothishria, Shelerib th'Zharath)

Polite form of address: Zha, Sha, Cha, Tha. Bondmate: zh'yi, sh'za, ch'te, th'se. Parent: zhavey, shreya, charan, thavan. Offspring: zhei, shei, chei, thei. Sibling: zhi, shi, chi, thi. Parent by marriage: zhadi, shidei, chada, thadu. Child by marriage: zhri'za, shri'za, chri'ze, thri'ze.

Meta

Selected information acquired from Andorian genders on Memory Beta. Aspects are modified in an attempt to be more gender inclusive. The history section is left out entirely, due to it's frequent back and forth nature that is a symptom of soft canon not being required to be consistent across authors.

Retrieved from "https://lcars.sfintel.space/index.php?title=Andorian_Gender&oldid=909"