addressing one’s mother humbly / neutrally in 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 important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them. One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

When the speaker humbly refers to his or her mother in the presence of respected interlocutor(s), haha (母) is often used as in the case of Abraham referring to his mother before Abimelech (Genesis 20:12). This form is very appropriately chosen as Abraham is speaking to Abimelech the king of Gerar. While haha can carry this humbling effect in reference to the speaker’s mother, in some types of dialogues/utterances such as in poetry (Song 3:4) and proverbial teachings (e.g. “honor your father and mother” in Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16 et al.), haha is used without the humbling effect. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Exod 20:12

Honor your father and your mother means more than simply to obey your parents. This commandment was addressed primarily to adults, and the word for Honor means “to give weight or dignity to,” in the sense of “Respect” (Good News Translation). It is significant that both father and mother are listed here, for the Israelite culture was male oriented. Since this gives equal importance to the mother, one should not translate “parents.”

That means “so that,” or “in order that.” This introduces a promise rather than a reason, as in the preceding commandment. (See Eph 6.2-3.) That your days may be long is literally “so that your [singular] days will lengthen.” This means “so that you may live a long time” (Good News Translation) or “may live a long life” (New American Bible). This expression is used repeatedly in Deuteronomy in the sense of enjoying prosperity as well as long life, so Revised English Bible has “so that you may enjoy long life.”

In the land which the LORD your God gives you refers to the “promised land” (Durham). The word for land refers to the ground or soil (as in Gen 2.7), suggesting a prosperous agricultural life. The LORD your God is “Yahweh your [singular] ʾelohim.” Gives you is better understood as “is giving you” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), for the participle suggests ongoing action. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “is assigning you.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .