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Honorifics ~ Addressing people properly
There are plenty of honorifics that you would have heard before (mr, mrs, miss, etc). The Japanese have honorifics as well, but they are not quite the same as ours. If you wish to submit something I missed please feel free to email me anytime.
Honorifics
| -chan | Using the -chan honorific with a name [ie. Usagi-chan] denotes familiararity. Usually this honorific is used with close female friends, children, and pets. Using -chan for someone older than yourself is considered *very* rude. |
| -dono | This is a very rarely used suffix nowadays, and considered archaic. In the 18-19th century, however, it was used towards one's superior (much like -sama), but with significant personal respect as well. All personal feelings, however, were - the Japanese being the Japanese, after all - reserved for special
occasions only. So, a typical samurai would call his superiors "-sama", but only the highest-ranking and/or most favored samurai would be allowed to call his lord "-dono". Similar to "my lord", as opposed to the purely professional "sir". (Submitted by: MaXxX) |
| -hime | This is only used for a princess as it means "princess". (Bunny-hime = Princess Bunny) |
| -ko | Using the -ko honorific with a name [ie. Usa-ko] denotes familiararity with a female. Mamoru calls Usagi "Usa-ko" after they start dating. |
| -kun | Using the -kun honorific denotes a relationship between boys that grew up together, a boss to an employee, female students to male students, older students to younger students, and sometimes even for females students (seen in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS). |
| no honorific | This denotes a VERY CLOSE relationship between two people. [ie. Haruka & Michiru, Usagi & Rei]. By no means does using no honorific imply there is something other than a platonic relationship, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't. You must go by a case by case basis. |
| -sama | Using the -sama honorific with a name [ie. Usagi-sama] denotes formality and deep respect. Usually used with royalty, leaders, or someone you *really* respect. Think of it as Lord/Lady or Master/Mistress. |
| -san | Using the -san honorific with a name [ie. Usagi-san, Tsukino-san] denotes formality. Think of it as Mr/Miss/Mrs. Usually a younger person to older adult, classmates, or people unfamiliar/unclose with each other. |
| -tachi | Attaching -tachi to the end of a word is a pluralization method. Senshi (meaning soldier) written as senshi-tachi becomes 'soldiers'. As watashi (meaning "I") becomes "we" when written as watashi-tachi. |
Words with Honorifics
| ane-ki | Ane means "older sister" but is not necessarily used for blood relations. It is used by someone referring to an tough older and senior "big sister" figure. Think of a female gang leader being called this by her followers. |
| ani-ki /ani-ue | Ani means "older brother" but is not necessarily used for blood relations. It is sometimes used by someone referring to an older and senior "big brother" figure. The "ani-ki" version is for more rustic or "tough" personalities. The "ani-ue" is a more refined and elegant use of the term. |
| oba-san | Middle-aged woman, aunt. |
| obaa-san | Grandmother. |
| oji-san | Middle-aged man, uncle. |
| ojii-san | Grandfather |
| ojoo-san | Young girl, some else's daughter. |
| okaa-san | Mother. |
| onee-san | Older sister. |
| onii-san | Older brother. |
| otoo-san | Father. |
| ouji-sama | Prince |
| oujo-sama | Princess |
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