speak (Japanese honorifics)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In this verse, the Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “speak” or “say” or similar in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-hanashi (お話し), combining “speak” (hanashi) with the respectful prefix o-.

Another respectful way of saying “speak” in Japanese is by using o-katari (お語り), combining “speak” (katari) with the respectful prefix o-. In the Shinkaiyaku Bible this is used in Exodus 20:19 (Moses’ speech), 2 Samuel 7:25, 2 Samuel 7:29, and 1 Chronicles 17:23.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 2:14

I have something to say to you is a way of asking permission to continue speaking and to get to the heart of the matter. In some languages it will be more appropriate to put this in the form of a question such as “May I tell you what is on my mind?” or “May I speak to you of the matter for which I have come here?”

Say on is literally “Speak,” which once again repeats what is used in the previous statement. Unlike Good News Translation, which turns Bathsheba’s command into a polite question, the Hebrew is abrupt. Compare “Tell me” (Revised English Bible) and “Say it” (New American Bible).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .