User talk:Zeigfreid

Japanese pronouns

With regard to "teimei", what you heard was probably temee, which is a slurred pronunciation of temae (手前). I suppose you could describe it as rude (the Daijirin dictionary characterises it as ややさげすんでいう語, "slightly scornful"), but as always with Japanese, it's a context thing. You can, in theory, call yourself temae too, in which case it's merely humble.

Kisama is similarly ambiguous; in the most common modern contexts it's used abusively, but one can easily find cases where it isn't rude at all, particularly in period works.

Because the situation is quite complex, I just think it's best to keep these details out of the main article on the Japanese language, which is already much too long for what is, after all, supposed just to be an overview. There's already a more detailed discussion of the matter at Japanese pronouns. (If I may say so, you might consider looking at your other edits to Japanese language -- and other people's edits, too -- to make sure that none of those would be better off in the more specific articles. Ideally, each section of the main article should contain just the most basic facts, with all the detailed discussion in the specific articles. I hasten to add that I can't see anything wrong with the rest of your edits, or I'd have changed them already myself -- it's just something you could usefully bear in mind.)

BTW, with regard to the other edit I reverted that I think must have been yours: the usual example of someone apparently claiming to be a foodstuff is "boku wa unagi da". It's discussed in Japanese grammar#Thematic wa. The reason it's not an example of omission is that the thing that makes it ambiguous is the fact that the personal pronoun is included, thus placing additional emphasis on the speaker. What it is is a good example of why "wa" cannot be thought of as a subject marker.

With all that said: welcome to Wikipedia! I hope the slightly rough reception won't put you off contributing: you appear to have the sort of open and enquiring mind that's often the hallmark of a good editor. ;)

— Haeleth Talk 14:55, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

re: Goblins (webcomic)

Please see my response to your post at Wikipedia talk:Deletion review. Thanks. -- JLaTondre 19:14, 24 August 2006 (UTC)