I have heard—though not often—people refer to themselves using their first name, not by using a pronoun for "I." Does this have special connotation in Japanese? Nothing about the usage (to me) seemed particularly unusual. In English, this would admittedly come across as being very weird.
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1This is called illeism, the tendency in some individuals to refer to themselves in the third person. — illeist, n.– user63189Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 12:34
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1 Answer
Yes, young children and young women often refer to themselves by their first name. There is the notion that it is cute and women will use it when talking to close family members, etc. If an adult male would use it, it would sound very effeminate. Also, when an adult women uses it, some people consider that she is trying to look cute on purpose and be turned off by it.
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1Well this is also a case of trying to be indirect. It applies most often when talking about others.– IanCommented May 1, 2012 at 0:55
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@Ian What do you mean "when talking about others"? This question is about using your own name to refer to yourself, and I don't believe this to be a case of trying to be indirect at all.– ジョンCommented May 2, 2012 at 0:33
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1＠ジョン i mean in place of using a "you" pronoun. For example it is very rare to hear あなたは～ですか patterns and is even considered rude in many cases. However ジョンさんは～ですか like patterns are very common even mid conversation with that person. In the same way one might replace an "I" pronoun with their own name in order to indirectly state things about themselves.– IanCommented May 2, 2012 at 5:19
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