Sakura-chan to Amane-kun - Ch. 6

[Luhood]

@mbs357 Actually, using "They" as a gender-neutral pronoun is perfectly correct. It's rather awkward since it isn't very often used in this particular manner, but it is correct nonetheless.

@Kaarme There does actually. "Xe", even if not that very widespread, does exist as a gender-neutral not-they pronoun. Either way I personally think "They" works better in this case, if only because "Xe" still comes with connotations and implications that makes it stand out as intentionally gender-neutral rather than a more blasé "They" which really only stands out because we know the true context.

 

[Kaarme]

@Luhood Xe? Come on. "X" won't make every word better, even if many a copywriter thinks so. If you take your dictory and check, those beginning with an X is the shortest list of words in it. Whoever came up with that "xe", they themselves made sure it's not going to become widespread. Xe will remain only Xenon.

 

[Cian]

thank you for picking this up! I really wanted more of this.

 

[808bee]

@kaarme "They" as a gender neutral pronoun is not new.
https://public.oed.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/magazine/whos-they.html?_r=0
https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-singular-they/
English is a strange language, but singular "they" will be here to stay for quite some time. It sounds way better than "thon", personally.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/third-person-gender-neutral-pronoun-thon

 

[SoloSera]

People complaining about "they" seem to know next to shit about grammar. 🤣

 

[Hexxy]

Well, since the topic of singular they has been brought up, I'd like to give a bit of a brief history on singular and plural pronouns in English, namely, the fact that the word "you" used to be the plural second person pronoun and the singular second person pronoun used to be "thou" or "þú", related to the French singular second person pronoun « tu » and the German sspp (singular second person pronoun) »du«

People back in the day made similar arguments against singular "you" as those that we see today against singular "they". Here is one such example:

https://books.google.com/books?id=hQCAXr0OmDcC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20

In the last paragraph above in the page linked, you can see the author make the case against singular "you" that it is completely false and wrong and will never be correct, but today we say "you" as both a singular and plural with no real hassle. I'm not interested in debating or arguing this point with anyone in particular by the way, I only wanted to bring this to light since it's a topic relating to linguistics and linguistics is quite literally my field of expertise. The prescriptive vs descriptive debate is of course one that I fall on the descriptive side of for the most part, but rather than do that, I'd rather just bring up this tidbit about the evolution of the English language.

 

[Kaarme]

@808bee Yeah, I've been using it for years, myself. I don't know, maybe I just never saw it used like this and thus it took me by surprise and looked unnatural?

@Hexxy From my point of view the "you" case is different, but it's only, perhaps, because of my own background. In my native tongue the second person singular and second person plural are different (just like all the personal pronouns, with no gender specific versions), BUT: The second person plural can be used in respectful/polite speech to refer to a single person, like when addressing a customer, a superior, an elder, or an unknown person in general. This is fairly common in languages. Now, I'm no language expert, so I can't say if this particular use of English "they" to indicate an unknown gender might be more unique, but I would bet it is. Let's also not forget the royal we.

My point is that this use of they is not comparable. Isn't it simply used because there is only one "they", and it makes no difference between genders? It was convenient for whoever first decided to use it in this role, and a far surer bet to be accepted than a totally new word like "xe", for example. Even in Sweden, which ought to be one of the most liberal countries in the world, the gender neutral singular adoption is hampered because of a political burden. It's easy to imagine how it would be in the UK or the USA, which are the grand bastions of conservatism.

 

[TokenOtaku]

I actually want more. Like I just finished reading this and I already am missing it.

 

[rhodiridium]

@Kaarme it's cool you're a lot more receptive to this point than many people I've come across. As you mentioned it's really hard to invent an entirely new word to use as a gender-neutral singular pronoun, so for now we're stuck with 'they/them'. I used to find it really odd myself but over time I just got used to it.

@Hexxy I love you all for translating this.

 

[AkiraZXE]

There is no reason to refer to Sakura with "they" at this point in the story. So far, he's made no real indication that he wants to be a woman. In fact, he outright said the opposite.

 

[Hexxy]

@TokenOtaku I, too, can't wait for more. Next chapter isn't out yet but the moment it is, we'll be there. <3

@rhodiridium We all love you too <3 We'll continue to translate it in the future too once more chapters are out.

 

[traveling_chef]

this is cute and I can't wait for more~

 

[Nari]

@AkiraZXE actually Sakura said "i dont want to be a woman, i think" ... notice the "i think" ... it means hes not sure, so its not actually entirely confirmed that hes not trans

as for using they on sakura... its usage was correct here, firstly "they" is the proper translation of gender neutral japanese pronouns, secondly, when out in public or around people (such as amanes sister) he cannot refer to Sakura as "he" as that outs him as a crossdresser, and he wont (or shouldnt) use "she" since sakura hasnt made it clear that he wants to be a girl.... in which case remaining neutral for Sakura is actually the best course of action at the present time in the story

 

[theHist]

Nice touch with the trans flag!!!!

 

[ajddavid452]

@Nari so than Sakura is probably in egg mode

 

[knight_evangel]

Oh great, another translation ruined by overly serious politically correct people. Guess I gotta get used to stylistically awkward sentences again.

 

[elefantine97]

the chemistry was going well and then boom, that surprise reveal at the end lol

 

[JohnJRenns]

it's nice to see translators who embrace the they/them pronoun, although i agree with some people here that it was entirely unnecessary in this context. but perhaps playing it safe is preferable to potentially embarrassing yourself when it turns out Sakura is actually an egg in denial

 

[nightcore34]

Watch them be cousins or something.