| Change log entry 93420 | |
|---|---|
| Processed by: | richwarm (2026-02-06 01:24:31 UTC) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 85447 - submitted by 'becky82' >> Saying "for a divine being" is misleading: - 祂 is not used in most religions, and (outside of fiction) is almost exclusively used for God in the Christian Bible. - In Christianity, 祂 is only used for God, not other divine beings. (Proving a negative is tricky, but...) Since I'm not familiar with every single religion, I asked ChatGPT, and it tabulated as follows: | Religion | 祂 used? | Notes | | --------------------------------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Christianity | Yes | Almost exclusively; in Bible translations and Christian writings. | | Judaism | No | Uses 上帝 or 神; 祂 not adopted. | | Islam | No | Uses 真主 (Zhēnzhǔ) or 安拉 (Ānlā); normal pronouns or none. | | Buddhism | No | Uses 佛, 菩萨, 神; no special pronoun. | | Taoism | No | Uses 天, 道, 神; no 祂. | | Hinduism | No | Uses 印度神 (Hindu deities) or specific deity names; normal pronouns or none. | | Sikhism | No | Uses Waheguru or 神; 祂 rarely or never. | | Baha’i Faith | Rare | Modern texts may occasionally use 祂, but uncommon. | | Zoroastrianism | No | Uses 阿胡拉·马兹达 (Ahura Mazda) or 神; no 祂. | | Shinto | No | Uses 神, kami; no 祂. | | Jainism | No | Uses 天 or specific Tirthankaras; no 祂. | | Confucianism | No | Uses 天; 祂 not used. | | African Traditional Religions | No | Uses 神, 天; no 祂. | | Native American religions | No | Uses spirits/神; no 祂. | | Mormonism | Yes | Follows Christian conventions, so 祂 may appear. | | Jehovah’s Witnesses | Yes | Follows Christian Bible translations; 祂 used. | | Greek/Roman Paganism | No | Uses 神/诸神; no 祂. | | Norse Paganism | No | Uses 神/诸神; no 祂. | | Candomblé / Santería | No | Uses 神灵 or orixás; no 祂. | | New Age / eclectic spiritualities | Rare | Occasionally adopted 祂 if referencing “God” in a Christian-like sense. | The only exception I could come up with is divine beings in fiction: - 那就必须用祂来尊称了，用这个形容神灵和类似存在的第三人称敬词 https://www.qidian.com/chapter/1010868264/405219233/ (here it refers to spirits) - ……历史上赫赫有名的时天使，祂觉得这样很掉价。 https://www.1qxs.com/xs_1/76555/586.html (here it's used for an angel) Hence the proposed edit. |
| Diff: |
- 祂 祂 [ta1] /(third person pronoun for a divine being)/ + 祂 祂 [[ta1]] /(third-person pronoun for God in the Christian Bible)/(third-person pronoun for divine beings in fiction)/ |