Many translator make the mistake of automatically translating the
word "sensei" into teacher or instructor. Even the translator of
Yojinbo for the recent DVD release made this mistake. While technically
this translation is not a "mistranslation" it misses an important point
in Japanese society. In Japan, any person revered and respected may
be referred to as a “teacher”. It is particularly common to refer
to an author or a politician or any one with a lot of power as a teacher
in Japan. This does not mean they have leaching licenses or such.
The term is simply a title of respect and reverence, which is very different
from the usage of the term in English.
The most appropriate English translation would be to add an honorific to the person's name, i.e. Mr or Ms. Other honorifics would work, but be careful.
There are times when you might want to translate the word into "master," because there is a seniority hierarchy between the characters. In English, we refer to a person who is very skilled to be "a master of ...", but we rarely address the person as "master" in everyday life. The usage of "master" as an address implicates an obedience on the part of the user of the expression. "Sensei" is a term of respect, not acknowledgement of subjugation. Having said that, I find myself using this term often for samurai period dramas and fantasy stories, but not often in contemporary settings.
In times when you're left with only the honorific and no name, "ma'am"
and "sir" seems to work fine.
英語で｢先生｣の呼称を再現する際、通常"Mr"や"Ms"と言った敬称を活用するのが適当でしょう。
もし｢先生｣という表現の中に｢師匠｣的な意味合いがある時、例えば敬称の相手が自分の目上であり先輩格であるなどと言った場合、英語の"master"という表現が適当かもしれません。何かの達人である場合、英語で"master of..."と言うことがありますから。ただ、通常の一般的社会生活でmasterという表現はあまり使われません。英語でmasterというのは日本語の｢ご主人様｣に相当する意味があり、その敬称を言う人間は相手に服従していうのを意味することもありえます。そうしながらもわたし自身時代劇やファンタジー物を英訳する時、｢先生｣を"master"と翻訳することがあります。現代社会での意味合いと異なった意味合いを持つからです。
尚、敬称だけで名前がわからない時は英語の"ma'am"や"sir"を使うのが適当でしょう。
> Diah wrote:
> I have been studying Japanese and want to know
> about Japanese Mimetic and Japanese
> Onomatopoeia.
> I have some question about that :
> - What the meaning of Japanese Mimetic and
> Japanese Onomatopoeia ?
Simply put, onomatopoeia is the "replication" of regular sounds. You're "re-creating" sounds your hear, such as the barking of dogs, the gun fire from a machine gun, or a jet plane, with sounds that sound "similar" to it, bow-wow, brakakrakakrakakra, or skreeee'n.
Mimetic involves words that "mimic" actions or mental states but not sounds, such as when people are depressed, when people stare at someone/thing, when you're in love. In the English language, there are not "audio" sounds associated with these words, but in Japanese we do.
If you're not Japanese, these sounds won't sound intuitive, but here
is the list.
People are depressed -- "doyooon"
People staring at someone/something -- "jeee"
People in love -- "howaan"
So remember, if you can hear the what the word is symbolizing, then it is onomatopoeia. If you can't hear it, but it still is represented by "sounds" (i.e. not abstract words,) then it is mimetic words or mimesis.
> - What different of Japanese Mimetic and
> Japanese Onomatopoeia ?
> - Which one of them is expressing emotion?
Since you can't hear someone be in certain emotions (you can hear some one growl, but that's different from "hearing" their anger fester inside,) it falls into the mimesis catagory.
We can describe anger in a variety of ways in Japanese.
Gutugutu (the sound of something boiling -- the anger boiling insides)
Iraira (mimesis for frustration)
kirikiri (the sound of something being tightened -- the anger that
seems to increase in intensity, etc.)