Bosnian to Korean: sister does not identify the relative age needed by every target term
The source family relation may be less specific than a Korean kinship word
The Bosnian Sarajevo reading in Columbia’s Naš jezik lesson introduces Selma’s sister Alma. It identifies the family relationship without stating there that Alma is the older sister. A translator should not fill that gap merely because Korean offers familiar words associated with older siblings.
The National Institute of Korean Language dictionary defines 누나, nuna, as an older female sibling or cousin referred to by a male, and 언니, eonni, for the corresponding reference by a female. Selecting one of those terms therefore adds both relative-age and relational-viewpoint information beyond the source identification sister.
The person whose sister is described supplies the viewpoint
For a Bosnian phrase meaning my older sister, identify who is speaking. The same woman can be described by her younger brother and her younger sister through different Korean kinship terms. That difference does not mean that two sisters have appeared in the source story.
Conversely, a female narrator reporting a man’s family relationship should not automatically select the term used from her own viewpoint. The source possessive identifies whose sister the woman is. Reconstruct that relationship before choosing a Korean kinship expression or retaining a name-based description. The person writing or narrating the translation and the person whose family is discussed need not be identical.
A familiar kinship address does not prove biological relationship
The Korean dictionary also records endearing uses of nuna and eonni for older women beyond the literal sibling relationship. A target kinship word can consequently function as an address term rather than a claim that two participants have the same parents.
This matters when a Bosnian exchange names somebody as a sister in one sentence and addresses another person familiarly in the next. Preserve the source’s actual family identification separately from the tone of address. Do not make a genuine source sister into merely a friendly acquaintance, and do not invent a new family connection solely because a Korean address term permits a kinship-based expression.
A later pronoun must remain attached to the right relative
The Bosnian lesson supplies ona as a feminine singular personal pronoun and demonstrates short object forms including nju and je or ju. Those forms can continue reference to a woman already introduced. They do not repeat every lexical detail of the antecedent in each occurrence.
The Seoul National University honorifics chapter illustrates a Korean narrative repeating an older-sister noun instead of replacing every later mention with a pronoun. Repetition can therefore be a suitable target strategy when the source antecedent supports the chosen kinship term. It cannot repair an unsupported age assumption made at the introduction. Establish who the Bosnian sister is, whose relative she is, and whether her age relationship is known before carrying that expression through the Korean account. If the source identifies her only by name and family relation, keep those established facts rather than letting a convenient target kinship word create additional ones.
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