Sunday 27 June 2004

Pic of the day: This is the mood in which you use a very personal pronoun ... Screenshot from the anime Aishiteruze Baby, from episode 12 where Yuzuyu (aged 5) brings a home-made lunch (all riceballs) to her cousin in high school. (Making packed lunch is typically the role of a wife.) When she addresses him as "anata", he asks "Where did you learn that word?" I don't know about Yuzuyu, but I learned it from anime. ^.^

Very personal pronouns

I have mentioned before, I think personal pronouns need an upgrade. For instance, we only have one "we", even though we often need to refer to different groups of us. Each of us is part of many groups, typically a family, a class / school or department / workplace, a city or village, nation, perhaps a church or other religion. And all these (sometimes conflicting) groups are "we". There really needs to be more of them. At the very least, we could go back to what ur-Nordic had, a separate "we two" pronoun. I am sure it would be used a lot.

In the same way, English has done away with "thou" and now uses "you" both for the person you talk to and the group you talk to. This is not a good idea, I think. It does not get better when we use personal pronouns (like "we" and "you") as a replacement for the generic person. But "one" or "someone" sounds so stilted, not really something one would say in a normal conversation. I tend to use the inclusive "we" a bit too much, even when it is not about me. "And then we marry and have kids, or the other way around." No, we don't. Some people do. Most people, actually, but not "we". Perhaps not "you" either, since I don't know who "you" are. And yet I continue to say "we" and "you" because, well, that's what one says.

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I have spent the last year partly marinated in Japanese, through all the anime I've been watching, and lately listening to J-pop. It is great fun, and over time you ... I mean, I, pick up some words here and there. One of the most fascinating things is the Japanese attitude toward personal pronouns.

Actually, one Japanese teacher writing about the topic was adamant that they were not personal pronouns. Technically, he may be right, but they are very often used that way. The problem is, they don't translate exactly like our personal pronouns. They are more context sensitive.

For instance, as I have surely mentioned before, there are several words for "I". One can use one's name, but this is kinda weird in the long run. Kids are shown doing this routinely, though, much more than in English. Children can also use "boku", and young boys can use this as well. But while it almost always means "I", there is no law saying that it always will. If a boy is surrounded by women, for instance, one of them may say "boku" and mean the boy rather than herself. Not something that happens normally, I agree, but theoretically it could happen. Then when they grow a bit older, boys start to call themselves "ore", while women (and girls who feel womanly) use "atashi", a word that men cannot speak. However, both men and women can say "watashi", when they talk to someone of higher rank, like an employer or a teacher or a doctor.

Well, there are also different ways to say "you". The name, with an ending showing the proper level of respect, is normally safe. However, when addressing someone you don't know, like in a song, you need a generic single you word, and as far as I can see "kimi" is used this way. But in many – even most – of my favorite Japanese songs, the main characters are "Watashi & Anata" ... watashi as mentioned means I, while "anata" means you. Both "kimi" and "anata" can be translated as "you", but they are not interchangeable. "Anata" is a very personal pronoun. Not even all family members can use it freely. Under no circumstances should you address a business associate as "anata". Surely exaggerating, some say that only a bride can use this word to her bridegroom. It's not quite that bad, but it doesn't just mean "you", it means "dear you", but in a respectful way. Beloved, perhaps? I am sure, since this is Japanese, that there is some weird situation in which the above doesn't hold true, but I would not bet my million dollar contract on it.

[EDIT] "Anata" or "anta", when used out of turn, can also convey a strong lack of respect. I guess this follows naturally from its use as a "very personal pronoun". I believe there may also be dialect differences, but none that are used in the anime I watch.

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Of course, the Japanese way is a bit complicated, using totally different words. I would rather like to have a small arsenal of particles to add to the pronouns, optionally, to indicate the number and gender (if known). For instance in English you can say "he" and "she", but in plural it is not possible to indicate that a group of people is all-male or all-female or mixed or unknown, without getting into a lengthy explanation that distracts from the message, much like this lengthy sentence distracts from the message that we need "hes" and "shes". Duality would also be nice, although I guess we all can just say "we two" or "you two" if we mean it. And one of my favorites, "y'all" when writing to more than one.

It would be nice, wouldn't it, to have sharper tools in our language toolbox? To be able to say what we really want to say, to those we really want to say it to? But of course, more often than not, a lack of pronouns is not the real barrier.