본문 바로가기
  • Home

The Use of Japanese First-Person Pronouns Corresponding to Korean "jeo" "na" - Focused on the analysis of the Korean-Japanese translation text -

KWAK EUN SIM 1

1중앙대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This thesis analyzes texts of Japanese translation from a Korean novel in order to study how Japanese first-person pronouns are used in Korean-Japanese translation First, when the speaker is female, "watashi" corresponds to "jeo" and "na" and "atashi" corresponds to "na" which is relatively less polite than "jeo". This shows that "watashi" which is used by female speakers is used both in formal and informal circumstances in general. Second, when the speaker is male, "watashi" corresponds to "jeo" and "na" as is used by female speakers but there is a gender difference in the identification of level of treatment in a sense that "watashi" is used in more formal circumstances when spoken by male speakers. "boku" is a first-person pronoun that is used only by men in more informal circumstances than "watashi" but in reality, it can correspond to "jeo" and is used more widely than its traditional perception. "Ore" has been perceived to be used in much more informal circumstances when compared with "watashi" and "boku" but the analysis shows that it can correspond to "jeo" and is used even in polite expressions in Japanese in some cases. Also according to the analysis, the male speaker distinguishes "boku" and "ore", depending on the top-bottom relationship and close/distant relationship with the listener, the gender of the listener, the change of close/distant relationship, and the change of speaking scenes. Lastly, the result of analysis demonstrates that the distinction among "watashi", "boku", and "ore" is becoming blurred in line with changing times and therefore, a Japanese first-person pronoun that corresponds to "jeo“ is not limited to "watshi" and a Japanese first-person pronoun that corresponds to "na” is used in diverse ways according to speaker's relationship with the listener, speaking scenes, and speaker's characters.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.