- Jan 24, 2022
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Moonflare aramaug Apollo259 I have a bit to add (for once) about the "teacher as a name" discourse. Tagging instead of quoting for sanity reasons. I used to be a teacher/instructor (horrifying, I know) in other languages and around other countries. And in kung fu, where obviously Chinese is used (though I don't speak it.) Not in Japanese to be fair, but the linguistics are the same*.
In many languages, similarly to Japanese, "teacher" or the equivalent isn't just a description, it's a title or honorific. When you become a teacher, you become Teacher-Philo or Philo-Teacher. This applies to more than just teachers. In some cases, both a teacher, priest, elder, mayor, etc. would all be Teacher MoonFlare or Apollo-Teacher. It doesn't sound right in English because the word teacher is used more literally, and doesn't have the same associations with a person's status or seniority. We also don't use honorifics the same or nearly as much, with the closest example many might be familiar with being military ranks. It's more like calling someone Sir Aramaug, if Aramaug got knighted and became a Sir. When I was teaching, I was Philo-[Sensei], not "(The English) teacher — comma — Philo" if that makes sense.
I don't know if this is confirmation of anything, I'm not an expert in Japanese and admittedly mine is very bad, but from my understanding and useless linguistics knowledge this makes sense.
(Small edit that's bugging me: Obviously, if the point is that it doesn't make sense in English, it being a T, which is the shape of a cross, is weird. This could just be them using the English word anyway since Sekai was teaching him English. It could also just be that the dialogue is translated, because the characters are all actually speaking Japanese even though the game is in English. I'm not supporting any theory with this post, just adding to the discourse about names and titles.)
In many languages, similarly to Japanese, "teacher" or the equivalent isn't just a description, it's a title or honorific. When you become a teacher, you become Teacher-Philo or Philo-Teacher. This applies to more than just teachers. In some cases, both a teacher, priest, elder, mayor, etc. would all be Teacher MoonFlare or Apollo-Teacher. It doesn't sound right in English because the word teacher is used more literally, and doesn't have the same associations with a person's status or seniority. We also don't use honorifics the same or nearly as much, with the closest example many might be familiar with being military ranks. It's more like calling someone Sir Aramaug, if Aramaug got knighted and became a Sir. When I was teaching, I was Philo-[Sensei], not "(The English) teacher — comma — Philo" if that makes sense.
I don't know if this is confirmation of anything, I'm not an expert in Japanese and admittedly mine is very bad, but from my understanding and useless linguistics knowledge this makes sense.
(Small edit that's bugging me: Obviously, if the point is that it doesn't make sense in English, it being a T, which is the shape of a cross, is weird. This could just be them using the English word anyway since Sekai was teaching him English. It could also just be that the dialogue is translated, because the characters are all actually speaking Japanese even though the game is in English. I'm not supporting any theory with this post, just adding to the discourse about names and titles.)
This makes my heart flutter and my pussy wet, nglI laughed so much at the Waya image that PhiloPhilo posted I made a terrible signature out of it if anyone wants it.
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