Andorian Gender
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.
