Port City Jan 22, 2015:

@mmb42, although this question has been closed, let me give my thought on what you have posted since you have named me. I agree "et al" is almost exclusively used in bibliographical references. I've got an impression "et al" is used only when referring to persons, although technically it can be used to refer to anything other than what precedes it (naturally). Why is the term used? Apparently it is to make the name list shorter by cutting the names of less important authors; in an academic paper, being the first author is the most prestigious, and being the second author is less prestigious than the first author but more prestigious than the third author.

Although you referred to "this context" in your latest post, I hardly see any context here. But based on whatever information available, I assume the title refers to a title of a specific person. Anyway, 他 only means "others". So, it can be those in the general manager's team, but it can also be just about anybody.

Marc Brunet Jan 22, 2015:

Isn't specific/generic issue = key here ? (2/2) A job title is also a generic category. So, when using it, does this context uses 総経理 to designate a) a specific person? or b) a generic rank/level in the hierarchy/ies considered? That is perhaps what Steve H. need to determine as a key hint for us to address his question reliably.
For a) would tend to go for: "the General Manager and his executive team"
For b) would tend to go for: " general managers and executives of similar levels."

Marc Brunet Jan 22, 2015:

Isn't specific/generic issue = key here ? (1/2) @PortCity: I understand where you come from. Now, even though the asker has confirmed David's offer as a good fit for 'and others', to use 'et al.' as an extension of a title, not of an individual's name , still does not sound quite right, it seems to me. Why? 'et al.' is overwhelmingly used (in bibliographical references, any where else?) to signal the participation/authorship of individuals that have remained unnamed, either because the list they form is too long or their contributions real but less central to the work concerned.
So when a person naming list is extended with 'et al.', we tend to expect this to refer to other specific persons.
When extending a title listing, the situation is less clear.

Port City Jan 21, 2015:

@mmb42, I would have gone straight for et al (and others) if the asker had not written "the 他 part is definitely part of the title" below. :)

Marc Brunet Jan 21, 2015:

@PortCity san, I understand your reluctance to go for et Al in a context that seems to indicate a leading function in a corporate hierarchy rather than a collaborative one as in an international research team. Where someone assumes several functions 'cum' would indeed be the term used in English. However, both titles would then be mentioned, as is more frequently done for that purpose, using 兼ねて　or （兼） (as in 会長、社長（兼）) in such a case, wouldn't they? But that is not the case here, from what we have been supplied. Don't agree? :-)

Port City Jan 15, 2015:

総経理 (總經理) is a Chinese title for general manager, even in the Japanese document Patrick referred to. If 他 refers to a title, not "other people", it should mean the person has more than one title (i.e., General Manager cum something else, such as Director of a subsidiary).

David Gibney Jan 15, 2015:

I think the characters are Japanese, not Chinese.
The context is obviously different but the same term can be found in relation to Chinese titles on page 2 of this PDF:
http://oilgas-info.jogmec.go.jp/pdf/4/4979/1309_out_m_cn_CNP...

Steve Henderson (asker) Jan 15, 2015:

Thank you, Julian. Yes, you are probably right that it would be better to post this on a Chinese-English site. With regards to context, the 他 part is definitely part of the title as it is given for a number of individuals separately.

Julian Rippon Jan 15, 2015:

It's difficult to be sure without further context, but if it is in a list of people, it could just mean 'and others'.
Would it perhaps be more relevant to post this as a Chinese to English question rather than Japanese to English?