In Japanese, what is the difference between "jiko" and "jibun"?

Question

自己　自分

I don't mean jiko as in accident, I mean it as oneself. I know they can both mean oneself, but is one more polite than the other? And I think you can use jibun for your own self, as in "I" and not do that for jiko. Is this correct?

Answer 1

No, one is not more polite than the other.

自己 means more like "oneself" and 自分 means more like "myself", though not exactly.  In Kansai-dialect 自分 is actual a common word for "you" used by females.

自己 is mainly only used for certain phrases like:

自己中 selfish, self-centered

自己紹介 self-introduction

自分 is a more general term and much more common.

A sentence like 自分でする "do by oneself/myself", 自分 can't really be replaced by 自己.

So in the end, I'm not exactly sure myself, but you just kind of have to get the hang of it, and it'll become second nature when to use which word.

Cheers!

Answer 2

jiko means to go have relations with yourself. jibun means that you are an uneducated American that does not know what "jiko" means.