Japanese
For more details on this topic, see Japanese pronouns.Japanese does not have pronouns in the Indo-European sense, but does have nouns that are used in ways similar to pronouns. For example, kare (彼?) and kanojo (彼女?) can be used for "he" and "she". Depending on context, kare or kanojo may also refer to "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" respectively. The phrase ano hito (あの人?, lit. "that person") and other similar phrases are also used. The most common way to refer to another person is by title or affiliation, e.g. buchō (部長?, director) or Hitachi-san (Mr./Mrs./Ms. Hitachi). In general, Japanese speakers do not use pronouns when reference can be determined from context. Often a person's name is used where English would use a pronoun.
Read more about this topic: Gender-neutral Pronoun
Famous quotes containing the word japanese:
“A pragmatic race, the Japanese appear to have decided long ago that the only reason for drinking alcohol is to become intoxicated and therefore drink only when they wish to be drunk.
So I went out into the night and the neon and let the crowd pull me along, walking blind, willing myself to be just a segment of that mass organism, just one more drifting chip of consciousness under the geodesics.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“I will be all things to you. Father, mother, husband, counselor, Japanese bartender.”
—Mae West, U.S. screenwriter, W.C. Fields, and Edward Cline. Cuthbert Twillie (W.C. Fields)
“The Japanese are, to the highest degree, both aggressive and unaggressive, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and resentful of being pushed around, loyal and treacherous, brave and timid, conservative and hospitable to new ways.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)