How to determine the scope of subject?


I am very weak in determining the scope of subject when reading Japanese
sentences. For example, when reading the following passage,

>
> 娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、兄に許可を求めている。同じような体つきのふたりは、共有している物がたくさんあるそうだ。私は、男女の区別を教えられ、男物、女物が別の時代に育った。

  1. how can I know that 兄 in 【娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、兄に許可を求めている。】 refers to 娘's elder brother rather than 筆者's elder brother?
  2. if 兄 must refer to 娘's elder brother, why did 筆者 not write【娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、 **娘のお兄さん** に許可を求めている。】? お兄さん is used here because 娘 becomes a third person from 筆者's point of view.




>   1. how can I know that 兄 in 【娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、兄に許可を求めている。】refers to 娘's elder
> brother rather than 筆者's elder brother?
>

In the first sentence the only subject is 娘 -- marked by が. Ergo, the one who
receives permission to borrow from "brother" must be the daughter. And with
that referent being set, then without a lot of other context, it's hard to
make the brother anyone other than her own brother.

>   2. if 兄 must refer to 娘's elder brother, why did 筆者 not
> write【娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、娘のお兄さんに許可を求めている。】? お兄さん is used here because 娘 becomes a
> third person from 筆者's point of view.
>

My sense as a non-native speaker is that on the simplest level without
context, お兄さん and 兄 could both be used (with some other modifications for the
sentence). But here 兄 should be strongly preferred.

First, one way of making it お兄さん would be to write from the daughter's
perspective assuming she would refer to her brother as お兄さん _rather than_
writing about the situation from the author's own perspective. The rest of the
paragraph is not written that way but rather from the author's perspective
about his children.

E.g.

> 娘が「ねね、お兄さん、これ、借りて良い」と、兄に許可を求めている。】

would be find here because that would make sense for _her_ to say.

Second, the writing style here is appropriate for a Japanese essay or academic
format. In such a context, there's no reason to use polite forms like お兄さん.
Instead, the relations are stated simply. To give an example, 神様 is just
written 神 in most academic writing.

Third, assuming the author is writing from his own experience, there's also a
third reason. If this is the author's own family, then they are closer to the
author than the audience. And you don't use honorifics about people who are
closer to you than your audience.




>   1. how can I know that 兄 in 【娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、兄に許可を求めている。】refers to 娘's elder
> brother rather than 筆者's elder brother?
>

In the first sentence the only subject is 娘 -- marked by が. Ergo, the one who
receives permission to borrow from "brother" must be the daughter. And with
that referent being set, then without a lot of other context, it's hard to
make the brother anyone other than her own brother.

>   2. if 兄 must refer to 娘's elder brother, why did 筆者 not
> write【娘が「これ、借りて良い」と、娘のお兄さんに許可を求めている。】? お兄さん is used here because 娘 becomes a
> third person from 筆者's point of view.
>

My sense as a non-native speaker is that on the simplest level without
context, お兄さん and 兄 could both be used (with some other modifications for the
sentence). But here 兄 should be strongly preferred.

First, one way of making it お兄さん would be to write from the daughter's
perspective assuming she would refer to her brother as お兄さん _rather than_
writing about the situation from the author's own perspective. The rest of the
paragraph is not written that way but rather from the author's perspective
about his children.

E.g.

> 娘が「ねね、お兄さん、これ、借りて良い」と、兄に許可を求めている。】

would be find here because that would make sense for _her_ to say.

Second, the writing style here is appropriate for a Japanese essay or academic
format. In such a context, there's no reason to use polite forms like お兄さん.
Instead, the relations are stated simply. To give an example, 神様 is just
written 神 in most academic writing.

Third, assuming the author is writing from his own experience, there's also a
third reason. If this is the author's own family, then they are closer to the
author than the audience. And you don't use honorifics about people who are
closer to you than your audience.

