大好き ( _daisuki_ ): Simply 大 ( _dai_ , meaning "big, great") added to 好き (
_suki_ ), which is normally either an adjective ("liked, favorite") or a noun
("fondness, favor") but is also idiomatically used in a verb-like capacity to
mean "(I) like (you)"; in the case of adjectival use, it would be followed by
an appropiate particle to denote its grammatical position (most commonly な
_na_ ). Typically, 大好き would be translated into English as "love".

But how is one supposed to translate a phrase where 大好き is used as a modifier
to a noun that comes **after** said modifier (i.e. the order is "modifier-
noun"), with no particles whatsoever? Or more specifically, a person's name?

For the specific example that brought me to consider this issue, I've recently
encountered a Japanese comic with the title 大好きモーさん _Daisuki Mō-san_ ; with
the premise being about how the eponymous "Mō-san" is in love with someone but
does not have the courage to confess on the one hand, and a typical lack of
any indication whether said someone reciprocates Mō-san's feelings on the
other hand, it seemed to me that the title should be translated as "Mō-san in
Love" or something to that effect. However, a few other people that I know
argued that the title's structure is grammatically ambiguous enough that
"Beloved Mō-san" is an equally valid translation. It is out of my confusion at
the logic behind this alternate choice of translation that I come here to seek
clarity about the issue.
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2017-08-13T22:34:10.960
52278
2017-08-14T09:55:16.537
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question
grammar translation
How to translate 大好き as a noun/name modifier
I would translate the title as

> 大好きモーさん  
>  Mo-san who we love

Or in a bit more colloquial English,

> The Mo-san we all love

If I wanted to say something about Mo-san loving someone else, let's say Ms.
Tanaka, then I'd write

> 田中さんが大好きモーさん  
>  Mo-san who loves Ms Tanaka

##  Afterthoughts

After some back and forth with @Sjiveru , I'm very torn about something here.
Japanese grammar essentially wants to put a な between 大好き and モーさん. Obviously,
there's something that works for a title of manga in 大好きモーさん. I wondered, and
now Sjiveru makes me question even more, whether 田中が大好きモーさん parses well in
Japanese at all. Grammar wants the な in there, so it may not even work as a
title either.
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2017-08-13T22:42:06.617
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2017-08-14T00:54:10.287
2017-08-14T00:54:10.287
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Also to me sounds like "The beloved Mō-san", or "Mō-san who we/I love".
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-14T09:55:16.537
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2017-08-14T09:55:16.537
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answer