히브리어 겸양 표현의 번역 : 사무엘상 1-3장의 대화문을 중심으로

Abstract

This article focuses on the deferential self-reference expression ‘your servant’ in Biblical Hebrew and the Korean deferential pronoun cheo. There are similarities between these two forms in terms of pragmatic functions. But they differ in their morphosyntactic properties and frequency of use. The Hebrew forms have not been fully grammaticalized to be recognized as pronouns. More importantly, these forms alternate with first-person forms such as pronominal suffixes, verbal conjugations, and independent pronouns.BR An examination of the major Korean translations of 1 Samuel 1-3 reveals that most of them simply render deferential self-reference forms lexically, though their lexical meaning cannot usually be found in the original Hebrew text. This type of literal translation could cause confusion among the readers. They might think that the speaker is literally a slave of the addressee or is flattering his/her superior, while in fact the forms are regular means of deference in Hebrew. BR Hebrew deferential self-reference forms can better be rendered using the Korean deferential pronoun with the help of other means of deference. In addition, the absence of deferential forms when speaking to a status-marked person can signify that the speaker is on an equal standing or in intimate terms with the addressee. Therefore, both the presence and absence of deferential forms can serve as markers that inform better functional translations.