47945
Am I right in reading 「...のおまえ」 as "In the presence of ..."？

Would I be right in reading 「青い月のおまえに」 as "In the presence of a blue moon"?

And similarly, would 「彼女のおまえにいる」 be "To be before her"?

If the two above are so, are there any nuances that come with this おまえ?
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2017-06-02T02:57:05.067
47937
2017-06-02T07:39:11.093
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question
usage nuances
Am I right in reading 「...のおまえ」 as "In the presence of ..."?
As rare archaism, おまえ (or おんまえ, みまえ, ごぜん) can be an honorific expression
meaning "(in) front of (some very high person)". おまえ was also used as a
respectful second-person pronoun in archaic Japanese (1000 years ago or so).

> ###
> [おまえ](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/32984/meaning/m0u/%E3%81%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%88/)
>
> ［名］《「おおまえ（大前）」の音変化で、神仏・貴人の前を敬っていう。転じて、間接的に人物を表し、貴人の敬称となる》  
>  １ 神仏・貴人のおん前。おそば近く。みまえ。ごぜん。「主君のお前へ進み出る」  
>  ２ 貴人を間接にさして敬意を表す言い方。「…のおまえ」の形でも用いる。

Or see [御前 in a 古語辞典](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E5%BE%A1%E5%89%8D).

So, for example, if 青い月 is the name of a divine princess, 青い月のおまえに跪く could
mean something like "kneel in front of _(Princess) Blue Moon_ ". You may
possibly encounter a sentence like this in hardcore fantasy works (like _Dark
Souls_ ). Another example:

> 口を慎め、魔王様の御前なるぞ。  
>  Be careful in speech, you are in front of Evil Lord ( _or_ Evil Lord is
> present.)

That said, even as archaism I think this 御前 is usually read as おんまえ, ごぜん or
みまえ, because, as you probably know, おまえ does not sound respectful at all in
modern Japanese.

In modern standard Japanese 青い月のおまえに makes almost no sense. This is unless 青い月
is the name of a group and you want to say "to you as a member of _The Blue
Moon (Society)_ ".
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2017-06-02T07:13:14.783
47945
2017-06-02T07:39:11.093
2017-06-02T07:39:11.093
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answer