complete verse (Deuteronomy 3:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 3:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “But let your wives remain together with your children and your animals in those cities I gave you, since I know that you have many animals.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But your wives, children and cattle will stay in the cities I have given you. (I know that you have a lot of cattle.)” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But you (plur.) leave your (plur.) wives, children, and your (plur.) many animals in the towns which I gave to you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But your wives and children and your very numerous cattle must stay in the towns that I have allotted to you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )