Japanese Honorifics and Meanings

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~ちゃん chan = used for girls, very informal 

~君 kun = used for boys and male junior co-workers, or in the military for males and females of lower rank 

~さん san = general honorific, usually used for people above oneself or people one doesn't know well 

~様 sama = honorific more formal than "san", used in the service industry when addressing customers or used as the normal honorific in business letters to persons outside of ones own company, etc. 

These are the main ones, but there are others like ~陛下 heika for royalty (used after the title like king, emperor, etc.), ~先生 sensei for teachers, doctors, statesmen, etc., ~先輩 senpai for senior co-workers or schoolmates, ~氏 "shi" is formal but neutral in regard to respect. 

Within a family, san or (rarely) sama is used when addressing elders. 

otōsan (otōsama) - father 

okāsan (okāsama) - mother 

onīsan (onīsama) - elder brother 

onēsan (onēsama) - elder sister 

ojīsan (ojīsama) - grandfather 

obāsan (obāsama) - grandmother 

and so on and so forth. 

Sometimes 貴 (ki) is added to ani (informal "older brother") or ane (informal "older sister"), for respect. This makes "aniki" and "aneki" terms which show endearment and respect to the older sibling. 

For younger siblings, children, etc. "chan" or "kun" is usually used

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⏰ Last updated: Jul 16, 2017 ⏰

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