Persian to Yoruba: a plural-shaped reference can respect one parent
Išān can refer to one respected person in a source conversation
Persian Online explains that išān can function as respectful singular reference in colloquial speech, while written usage can correspond to plural ānhā. A Persian family conversation can therefore use a plural-shaped expression for one parent. Translating every such reference as a group would change who the conversation concerns.
The University of Texas Yoruba textbook illustrates a comparable practical distinction. It uses Wôn wà in an answer about younger siblings and the same expression in an answer about one father. The reference must be recovered from the preceding question rather than counted from the pronoun’s ordinary plural description.
These independently documented examples do not establish that Persian išān always requires one particular Yoruba pronoun. They show why respectful reference and numerical plurality must be interpreted separately. The person referred to can remain one father even when the source and target each permit a form associated with a plural paradigm.
Addressing a person and speaking about that person are different tasks
Persian šomā can address several people or respectfully address one. That is an addressee relationship, distinct from speaking about a respected third person with išān. A translation must identify whether the parent is listening to the message or being discussed with somebody else before selecting the target reference.
The Yoruba lesson separately describes an honorific addressee pronoun in greetings and respectful third-person reference. Respect is therefore not expressed by replacing every personal reference with one universal polite word. The conversational role matters as well as the relationship between the participants.
For a Persian exchange asking about a father’s condition, the father may be absent while the speaker addresses a younger relative. A target choice intended for respectful direct greeting would not automatically perform the same function as the reference in an answer about the father. The two people occupy different roles in the exchange.
One agreement pattern does not supply every missing personal fact
The Persian pronoun u does not distinguish male from female reference. A short source answer can thus leave information unstated that the surrounding family question already supplies. The translator should carry that antecedent into the target rather than infer a new person from an isolated pronoun.
The Yoruba textbook also distinguishes regular and emphatic pronoun sets and notes that their interchangeability is limited. A longer source reference or an emphasis on a particular person should not be handled by mechanically expanding any short target form. The function in the sentence must support the selected expression.
For this direction, establish three facts before reading a plural-looking form: who is addressed, who is discussed and whether the reference concerns one person or several. Then preserve the relevant respect relationship. The family exchange should continue to describe the same father or siblings, without converting deference into extra people or confusing a reference about someone with an address to them.
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