Yomi and Breakdown of the Words

自分の母親を親しんでいう語。古くは敬称として用いたが、現在では主に男性が、他人に対して自分の母をいうのに用いる。

Jibun no haha-oya o shitashinde iu go. Furuku wa keishō toshite mochiita ga, genzai de wa omo ni dansei ga, tanin ni taishite jibun no haha o iu no ni mochiiru.

A word expressing closeness with one’s own mother. A long time ago, people used it as a title of honor, but nowadays a man will mainly use it when talking to others about his mother.

自分 (jibun: oneself)     self + part
母親 (haha-oya: (one’s) mother)     mother + parent
親しむ (shitashimu: to be intimate with)
語 (go: word)
古く (furuku: anciently; formerly)
敬称 (keishō: title of honor)     respect + title

You may know 敬 from 敬語 (keigo: honorific language, respect + words).

として (toshite: as (for); for; by way of; in the role of)
用いる (mochiiru: to use)

This word is literary, whereas 使う (tsukau: to use) is more colloquial. You can use 使う in both conversations and writing, but you’ll never hear 用いる in spoken Japanese.

現在 (genzai: now; present time)     actual, present + to exist
主に (omo ni: mainly, mostly)
男性 (dansei: man, male)     man + gender classification
他人 (tanin: another person)     other + person
に対して (ni taishite: to)
母 (haha: (one’s) mother)
のに (no ni)

This is not the のに that means “although. These two syllables don’t even relate to one another. The の nominalizes いう, and に means “in,” more or less.

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