-----Original Message-----
From: ffml-bounce@fanfic.com [mailto:ffml-bounce@fanfic.com]On Behalf Of
Asayogure@aol.com

Hiya...

How would you say 'mother' in the affectionate?  Somehow, 'okaachan'
doesn't seem right, but I'm not sure...

	Actually the familiar term for mother in proper Japanese is 
"ha ha" for

[snip]

"Haha" is used when *describing* your mother.  "kaa" is the root 
word for addressing your mother or any other motherly figure, though
it's never used in that form:  Always add "o-" (honourable) and an 
honorific (-sama, -san, etc).  Same for the other terms on your
list.

"Mama" is a baby-talk term that might fit, I guess.

There is also a slang term, "ofukuro", which is what Ranma uses to
refer to his mother.  If I were Japanese and called my mother that,
though, I would expect a swift kick since I'd translate it as "the
old girl" in the Aussie vernacular, maybe also for other English
dialects as well.

	Now here is my question for the list.  Why on earth do you 
people wish to use
words from a language that you don't understand?!

Speak for yourself.

Personally, I use Japanese words when talking about a concept
that doesn't translate... but I try to include a glossary at
the end.

I will admit though that as I've written more, I've reduced
my usage of Japanese, using only those words that are absolutely 
necessary.

What do I mean by that?

For example, why use "iinazuke"?  It simply means 'fiancee',
with no special meaning.  On the other term a words such as
"dojo", "kata", "kiai", "giri", "seppuku", "wa", "hara", and
so on refer to concepts or carry a frieght of meaning that 
either requires a long explanation or is not directly translatable
at all.  (You will note that many of these words are on their
way into the English vocabulary as loan words, for example "dojo".
This is because English is the Satin Bower Bird of languages,
taking the blue shiny bits from everything it encounters.  It is
no accident that the total English vocabulary is 3 times the size
of the next largest language.)

--
David Eddy - Senior Consultant, Progress Software Melbourne
dje@progress.com

Screening Coordinator and Subbing Bunny, Melbourne Anime Society
My home page is at http://nabiki.newberry.edu/DEddy