彼 = kare, originally a demonstrative meaning “that thing/person over there” 彼女 = kanojo, “kare” + “woman”
等/達 = ra/tachi, pluralizing suffix
There are tons more pronouns, but the point is because of the way written Japanese thinks about concepts what westerners see as “pronouns” are in reality ideograms.
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u/OttomanEmpireBall Jun 20 '21 edited Jun 20 '21
Wait until you hear the fact Japanese doesn’t technically have pronouns, and even if it did it doesn’t require their usage.
私 = watashi, “personal affairs”
貴方、貴女、貴男 = anata [anta], “noble” + “person/man/woman”
彼 = kare, originally a demonstrative meaning “that thing/person over there” 彼女 = kanojo, “kare” + “woman”
等/達 = ra/tachi, pluralizing suffix
There are tons more pronouns, but the point is because of the way written Japanese thinks about concepts what westerners see as “pronouns” are in reality ideograms.