2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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 choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 27:20

As noted in the comments on verse 15, Dedan was an oasis in the Arabian Desert. It was about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Tyre. It stood on the major trade route from southern Arabia. Traded with you may be rendered “sold to you.” What Dedan traded with Tyre were saddlecloths for riding, that is, blankets to spread over the back of a horse before putting the saddle on. Some translations say “saddle blankets” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New International Reader’s Version, New Living Translation), and New American Bible has “riding gear.” In areas where people do not know about riding horses, translators may use a descriptive phrase such as “blankets to put on horses when people ride them.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .