How are ambiguous "brother" and "sister" typically translated into Japanese?


Japanese has different words for "younger sibling" and "older sibling". Then
how are the English words "brother" and "sister" (or any other European
equivalents for that matter) **typically** translated into Japanese (in books,
TV, movies, etc.) without a clear context or clue as to how older or younger
the sibling in question is (which is the case most of the time: Western
authors don't bother to use "younger/older sibling", or give any clue, at
all)? For example, how do Japanese translators deal with a vague phrase such
as "Lucy's sister"? Do they just randomly use either 「ルーシーの姉」 or 「ルーシーの妹」?
Also, what about the case of twin siblings?

**Note** : I'm not asking _can you translate these words for me?_ , but _how
are these words **typically** translated?_ based on the most common practice
used by translators; i.e. I'm asking for how translation works in these
specific cases in general, not for specific translations in any given
contexts. So I don't think the question is off-topic.




Think, what pronoun would you typically use for a person whose sex is
completely unknown (in Japanese, genderless pronouns are more commonly used)?
This is a very similar question.

The Japanese translator of _Harry Potter_ series went to ask J.K. Rowling if a
character is another one's older sister or younger sister. This is always by
far the best practice than anything written below. (But unfortunately it's
after the first volume was published, so in JP version someone's siblinghood
is twisted in the middle of the series.)

In some occasions you could use 兄弟 or 姉妹. But these words never mean a
singular sibling, always "brothers" and "sisters". They aren't made for
describing interpersonal relationship between two people, but their common
property.

> 彼女はルーシーの姉妹だ

It would likely to mean "she is one of Lucy's female siblings", or more
practically, "she was born from the same parents with Lucy" or "she shares
gene with Lucy" etc., that could be said during profiling or search of bone
marrow donors. (Or they belong to a "sorority", or are mass production
humanoids etc. etc.)

However, there's a workaround:

> 彼女とルーシーは姉妹だ

can successfully tell their relationship without raising much eyebrows. Of
course, it's useless when someone is referred only by their relation, e.g. "My
sister is..."

You can also avoid to mention relationship terms when it's possible, as one of
common solutions translators take to cope with untranslatable words.

The ultimate option is to take a shot in the dark. Older or younger, fifty-
fifty :) When you mention a fictional character and they are disposable in the
plot, this works great, but not recommendable for a real person. I don't know
how many minor characters in drama were hushed up like this.




Think, what pronoun would you typically use for a person whose sex is
completely unknown (in Japanese, genderless pronouns are more commonly used)?
This is a very similar question.

The Japanese translator of _Harry Potter_ series went to ask J.K. Rowling if a
character is another one's older sister or younger sister. This is always by
far the best practice than anything written below. (But unfortunately it's
after the first volume was published, so in JP version someone's siblinghood
is twisted in the middle of the series.)

In some occasions you could use 兄弟 or 姉妹. But these words never mean a
singular sibling, always "brothers" and "sisters". They aren't made for
describing interpersonal relationship between two people, but their common
property.

> 彼女はルーシーの姉妹だ

It would likely to mean "she is one of Lucy's female siblings", or more
practically, "she was born from the same parents with Lucy" or "she shares
gene with Lucy" etc., that could be said during profiling or search of bone
marrow donors. (Or they belong to a "sorority", or are mass production
humanoids etc. etc.)

However, there's a workaround:

> 彼女とルーシーは姉妹だ

can successfully tell their relationship without raising much eyebrows. Of
course, it's useless when someone is referred only by their relation, e.g. "My
sister is..."

You can also avoid to mention relationship terms when it's possible, as one of
common solutions translators take to cope with untranslatable words.

The ultimate option is to take a shot in the dark. Older or younger, fifty-
fifty :) When you mention a fictional character and they are disposable in the
plot, this works great, but not recommendable for a real person. I don't know
how many minor characters in drama were hushed up like this.

