You may think it best to stick to English words, but if you do not know their origins it will be hard to make sense of the different meanings mixed together in the one seemingly simple word “self.” What has traditionally been translated as “self” in the expression “all dharmas are without an independent self” is the Sanskrit word atman. In Japanese atman is translated as ga, a substantive, clinging, avaricious spirit or soul. This is not jiko.
I've been asked about why we use Japanese in ceremony and other places. I think this explains it well.
