中国語人称代名詞"人家"と日本語「人」の他称用法について

Abstract

The Chinese word renjia, if pronounced rénjiā, is a noun which means "house," "household," or "family a woman marries into." In contrast, if it is pronounced rénjia it is used as a personal pronoun. In the latter case, renjia can be used in the first, second and third person. In Japanese, the word hito corresponds to the Chinese personal pronoun renjia in terms of usage. Chinese students of the Japanese language tend to treat hito only as a noun meaning "human," being unaware of its pronominal function. But in fact hito can be used in a similar way to renjia. As a result of the analysis we can conclude that: 1) renjia and hito share similarities in usage, but 2) renjia has a special usage in which it is followed by a proper noun, while hito does not, and 3) they have a different frequency of use.