Why is 自分 used instead of 私?


For example:

> **自分** の名前が呼ばれたとき、私は自分の耳を疑った。  
> I couldn't believe my ears when I heard my name called.

Would it be appropriate if I said `私`? When is it appropriate to use `自分`?
What is the difference?




While the pronoun `私` has its own referent, meaning `I`, `自分` (in the Tokyo
dialect) does not have its own referent, and it means `self`. That is the
difference.

In this case, it will be somewhat redundant if you use `私` in place of `自分`
because there will be two different instances of the pronoun `私` referring to
the same thing:

> **私** の名前が呼ばれたとき、 **私** は自分の耳を疑った。

If you have `自分` in the adverbial-clause `自分の...とき`,

> **自分** の名前が呼ばれたとき、 **私** は自分の耳を疑った。

then, there will be only one instance of `私`, and `自分` can anaphorically
receive the referent from `私`. That is more "economical" from a linguistic
point of view, and is preferrable.

An analogy in English (not be taken so strict, due to the difference between
the languages; in fact, there is a categorical difference) is the fact that

> When **John's** name was called, **John** could not believe what he heard.

sounds somewhat redundant, and

> When **his** name was called, **John** could not believe what he heard.

is preferrable.

