formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("intending to grant")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ataeyōtoshiteo-rare-ru (与えようとしておられる) or “intending to grant” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 12:5

This verse has the first statement about “the one place of worship” (see also verses 14, 18, 21, 26). By the time this book was written, Jerusalem was the place that had been chosen by Yahweh where he was to be worshiped, in the Temple on Mount Zion.

You shall seek the place: this is from the point of view of Moses and the Israelites in Moab. God will choose the exact place, and the Israelites are to seek it. This is not in the sense that God will keep his choice a secret, which they will have to discover, but that they are to go directly to the place God chooses, since he would make his choice known. So Revised English Bible has “you are to resort to the place,” Bible en français courant “you will go to worship him at the place,” and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “the LORD will choose … you will go there.” In many languages it will be more natural style to use the pronoun “you” rather than “the people” as Good News Translation does.

The place … out of all your tribes: the place will be, of course, within the territorial limits of the land of Israel. So we may say, for example, “a place somewhere in Israel” or “a place somewhere in the land.”

To put his name and make his habitation there: this is a way of saying that a place of worship, a temple, will be built there for the worship of Yahweh. Good News Translation offers a good model: “come into his presence and worship him.” Bible en français courant has “to live there and manifest his presence,” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje “the place where he will live and where people will go to worship him.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• The LORD will choose a place somewhere in Israel [or, the land] where he will live and reveal his presence. You must find that place and go to worship the LORD there.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .