Gender — Gender-Aware Translations and Grammar Rules

// i18n/gender-icu.js — ICU MessageFormat gender handling
const { MessageFormat } = require('@messageformat/core');

// English — gender affects possessive pronoun only
const en = new MessageFormat('en');
const enNotification = en.compile(
    '{name} {gender, select, ' +
    'male {updated his} ' +
    'female {updated her} ' +
    'other {updated their}} profile picture.'
);

console.log(enNotification({ name: 'Alice', gender: 'female' }));
// Output: Alice updated her profile picture.

console.log(enNotification({ name: 'Bob', gender: 'male' }));
// Output: Bob updated his profile picture.

console.log(enNotification({ name: 'Alex', gender: 'non-binary' }));
// Output: Alex updated their profile picture.

// Spanish — gender affects verb conjugation (updated = actualizado/actualizada) and possessive
const es = new MessageFormat('es');
const esNotification = es.compile(
    '{name} {gender, select, ' +
    'male {actualizó su foto de perfil} ' +
    'female {actualizó su foto de perfil} ' +
    'other {actualizó su foto de perfil}}.'
);

// Note: "actualizó su" works for both, but adjectives would change:
// "contento" (male happy) vs "contenta" (female happy)

// French — gender affects past participle
const fr = new MessageFormat('fr');
const frNotification = fr.compile(
    '{name} {gender, select, ' +
    'male {a mis a jour sa photo de profil} ' +
    'female {a mise a jour sa photo de profil} ' +
    'other {a mis a jour sa photo de profil}}.'
);

console.log(frNotification({ name: 'Alice', gender: 'female' }));
// Output: Alice a mise a jour sa photo de profil.

console.log(frNotification({ name: 'Bob', gender: 'male' }));
// Output: Bob a mis a jour sa photo de profil.

// Arabic — gender affects verb conjugation for both subject and object
const ar = new MessageFormat('ar');
const arNotification = ar.compile(
    '{gender, select, ' +
    'male {{name} حدث} ' +
    'female {{name} حدثت} ' +
    'other {قام {name} بتحديث}} صورة ملفه الشخصي.'
);

console.log(arNotification({ name: 'Alice', gender: 'female' }));
// Output: أليس حدثت صورة ملفه الشخصي.

console.log(arNotification({ name: 'محمد', gender: 'male' }));
// Output: محمد حدث صورة ملفه الشخصي.

// i18n/pronouns.js — User pronoun management
class PronounManager {
    constructor() {
        this.pronouns = new Map();
    }

    // Define pronoun sets per locale
    static PRONOUN_SETS = {
        'en': {
            'he/him': {
                subject: 'he',
                object: 'him',
                possessive: 'his',
                possessive_adj: 'his',
                reflexive: 'himself'
            },
            'she/her': {
                subject: 'she',
                object: 'her',
                possessive: 'hers',
                possessive_adj: 'her',
                reflexive: 'herself'
            },
            'they/them': {
                subject: 'they',
                object: 'them',
                possessive: 'theirs',
                possessive_adj: 'their',
                reflexive: 'themselves'
            }
        },
        'es': {
            'he/him': {
                subject: 'él',
                object: 'le',
                possessive: 'suyo',
                possessive_adj: 'su',
                adjective_end: 'o'
            },
            'she/her': {
                subject: 'ella',
                object: 'le',
                possessive: 'suya',
                possessive_adj: 'su',
                adjective_end: 'a'
            },
            'they/them': {
                subject: 'elle',
                object: 'le',
                possessive: 'suye',
                possessive_adj: 'su',
                adjective_end: 'e'
            }
        },
        'de': {
            'he/him': {
                subject: 'er',
                object: 'ihn',
                possessive: 'seins',
                possessive_adj: 'sein',
                article: 'der'
            },
            'she/her': {
                subject: 'sie',
                object: 'ihr',
                possessive: 'ihres',
                possessive_adj: 'ihr',
                article: 'die'
            },
            'they/them': {
                subject: 'sie',
                object: 'ihnen',
                possessive: 'ihres',
                possessive_adj: 'ihr',
                article: 'die'
            }
        }
    };

    setPronouns(userId, pronounSet, locale = 'en') {
        const sets = PronounManager.PRONOUN_SETS[locale];
        if (!sets || !sets[pronounSet]) {
            throw new Error(`Unknown pronoun set: ${pronounSet} for ${locale}`);
        }
        this.pronouns.set(`${userId}:${locale}`, {
            setId: pronounSet,
            forms: sets[pronounSet]
        });
    }

    getPronouns(userId, locale = 'en') {
        // Try specific locale, fall back to en
        return this.pronouns.get(`${userId}:${locale}`)
            || this.pronouns.get(`${userId}:en`)
            || PronounManager.PRONOUN_SETS[locale]?.['they/them']
            || PronounManager.PRONOUN_SETS['en']['they/them'];
    }

    // Format a message with pronouns
    formatMessage(template, user, locale = 'en') {
        const pronounData = this.getPronouns(user.id, locale);
        const forms = pronounData.forms;

        return template
            .replace(/\{name\}/g, user.displayName)
            .replace(/\{subject\}/g, forms.subject)
            .replace(/\{object\}/g, forms.object)
            .replace(/\{possessive\}/g, forms.possessive)
            .replace(/\{possessive_adj\}/g, forms.possessive_adj)
            .replace(/\{reflexive\}/g, forms.reflexive);
    }
}

// Usage
const pronouns = new PronounManager();
pronouns.setPronouns('user1', 'she/her', 'en');
pronouns.setPronouns('user2', 'he/him', 'es');

const template = '{name} updated {possessive_adj} profile picture.';

console.log(pronouns.formatMessage(template, { id: 'user1', displayName: 'Alice' }, 'en'));
// Output: Alice updated her profile picture.

console.log(pronouns.formatMessage(template, { id: 'user2', displayName: 'Bob' }, 'es'));
// Output: Bob actualizó su foto de perfil.

// i18n/gender-neutral.js — Gender-neutral translation patterns

// Pattern 1: Use plural forms (they/them)
const neutralEn = new MessageFormat('en');
const msg1 = neutralEn.compile(
    '{name} updated their profile picture.'
);
// Works for any gender — "their" is neutral

// Pattern 2: Rewrite to avoid pronouns
const msg2 = 'Profile picture updated by {name}.';
// No pronoun needed — passive voice

// Pattern 3: Use the user's name instead of pronoun
const msg3 = '{name} updated {name}\'s profile picture.';
// Repetitive but grammatically neutral

// Pattern 4: ICU select with a "neutral" option
const msg4 = neutralEn.compile(
    '{name} {gender, select, ' +
    'male {updated his} ' +
    'female {updated her} ' +
    'neutral {updated their} ' +
    'other {updated their}} profile picture.'
);

console.log(msg4({ name: 'Alex', gender: 'neutral' }));
// Output: Alex updated their profile picture.

// Pattern 5: Formulation without gender reference
const msg5 = 'Profile picture update by {name}.';
// Nominal style — common in German and Japanese

// locales/en/common.json — English gender handling
{
    "notification_like": "{name} {gender, select, male {liked his} female {liked her} other {liked their}} own post.",
    "notification_follow": "{name} started following you!",
    "notification_comment": "{name} commented on {target, select, male {his} female {her} other {their}} photo.",
    "profile_title": "{name}'s Profile",
    "profile_joined": "{name} {gender, select, male {joined} female {joined} other {joined}} in {year}"
}

// locales/de/common.json — German has 3 genders
{
    "notification_like": "{name} gefallt {gender, select, male {sein} female {ihr} other {sein}} eigener Beitrag.",
    "notification_follow": "{name} folgt Ihnen jetzt!",
    "notification_comment": "{name} hat {target, select, male {sein} female {ihr} other {sein}} Foto kommentiert."
}

// locales/ja/common.json — Japanese has no grammatical gender
{
    "notification_like": "{name}が自分の投稿にいいねしました。",
    "notification_follow": "{name}があなたをフォローしました。",
    "notification_comment": "{name}が写真にコメントしました。"
}