Linguistics Colloquium | 'Are Yous Talking to Mes?': The Puzzle of Personal Pronouns in Japanese-English Translation, March 8

The Linguistics Colloquium series presents Pat Maher discussing “Are Yous Talking to Mes?”: The Puzzle of Personal Pronouns in Japanese-English Translation on Friday, March 8, from 12:55 to 1:50 p.m. in Gordy 310 and via Microsoft TEAMS.

Pat Maher is a Lecturer in International Cultural Studies at Iwate Prefectural University in Morioka Junior College and an alumnus of the M.A. in Applied Linguistics program at Ohio University.

Abstract: Personal pronouns in Japanese do much more than merely refer to particular subjects or objects; they illustrate context, illuminate relationships and deftly drive story-based characterization. Managing to convey these significant subtleties in translation is no easy feat, notably when working dialogue into languages such as English, where "I" am…well, "I", pretty much all of the time, with few idiosyncratic alternatives to consider. While no single approach exists to unconditionally solve this pronoun puzzle, the use of colloquial vocatives in English may be one of the more sociolinguistically satisfying solutions available.