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🇯🇵 List of “I” pronouns and translators’ dilemmas

Previously, we started to explore the Japanese pronoun “I,” and will continue to review the most common examples and uses. The “I”  pronoun provides an indication of the speaker’s identity or personality. It is how we label ourselves and one of the reasons why there are so many options available.

私 (watashi): neutral in both gender and status, and often used by news anchors. However,  since men have other options available, it is used in higher percentage by women.

私 (watakushi): the kanji is the same as “watashi,” however when pronounced we add a “ku” between “ta” and “shi” to express humility. It is used in formal situations when speaking with a  person of higher status or age and denotes respect towards the person we are speaking to.

僕 (boku): one of the two primary “I”  pronouns use by boys and also men, each of which has its own nuances and connotations. It has youthfulness to it and might sound too childish if a middle-aged person persistently used it. The kanji also means “servant” (shimobe) and so, it has a more formal vibe too compared to “ore” below. 

俺 (ore): the second and more informal option used by men, which has a bit of a wild or even sometimes macho nuance. Men who use it probably identify as “virile.”

Differences between boku and ore

From a stereotypical standpoint, boku is preppy, shirt and pants kind of guy, while ore is racing down the road on a motorbike in a gritty leather jacket. Boku is used in the expression “僕ちゃん” (bokuchan), often used by adults when talking to a boy, particularly when they don’t know his name. We never use “orechan,” that would sound like an oxymoron as the politeness marker chan is sweet and affectionate.

Another use of ore is in the colloquial expression “oreore sagi”  (オレオレ詐欺). This is the name of a telephone scam, where the scammer calls  older people and pretends to be their sons or grandsons, saying “it’s me, it’s me” (ore ore!), pretending they are in trouble and asking for money. Calling this scam “Boku boku sagi” instead would sound silly in associating boku’s soft and gentle vibe to crime.

Translators’ dilemmas
Since we have three main male “I”  pronouns, each with a different nuance, translators have a number of  choices to make which might be tricky at times. In my interpretation work for international fashion businesses, I use the neutral “watashi”  for everybody to keep the importance of the conversation on the content  of what’s being said. I do not have to transmit the atmosphere as one  might for more literary purposes such as in a novel, where it is  important to reproduce the characters’ moods and the entire ambiance. In  this case, the translator must capture the character correctly through  the pronoun choices made. In his book “翻訳夜話” (Honyaku yawa), Murakami Haruki (村上春樹) has talked about the dilemmas he’s faced with the “I”  pronoun in his process of translating many American novels into  Japanese. In the case of his translation of Raymond Carver’s books, he says that in his opinion, it should be either watashi either boku, and that outside some particular conversations the use of ore is out of the question. When the character is young, he would often use boku  and then shift to watashi as they became older, or mix in the use of boku to avoid monotony. This is why there is far more impact Japanese  translators have based on the interpretations choices they make. We can  say the exact same thing, but significantly alter the message based on  the nuance each choice carries. 

Can women use male “I” pronouns? 
Although uncommon, women can use the male “I pronouns. Mogami Moga (最上もが), a Japanese actress/model, uses boku on TV, but is the only one that I am aware of. It stands out, and it gives  kind of an eccentric and cool image. She initially used boku in online gaming to pass as a guy, because she felt users were treating  women poorly, and kept this habit outside the gaming world. A woman  using “ore” is far more unheard of and would feel very aggressive or provocative. It is another example of boku being much softer than ore.

Next time, we will go over the less common “I” pronouns, and some Japanese book titles containing the “I” pronouns, and see what is the reason or effect of the choice.

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