Japan word
Thursday, 24 March 2011
People are asking what is "chan" "sama" "san" "kun" "dono" "sensei" "kohai" "sempai" "bozu"
They're all endings that you can add to a name.
-chan is for friends, especially younger ones, both boys and girls, but moreoften girls. Adults also use this for kids.
-sama is very polite. Almost too polite. It's a little beyond Mr./Ms./Mrs. Sometimes it's used for fun, or in quite formal contexts. sama is used by servants when they talking to their master, used by students for their teacher,etc etc... used when you talking to someone with a higher position, or someone you admire..
-san is your standard ending to a name, like Mr./Mrs./Ms.
-kun is similar to -chan, but mainly used for boys, although not exculsively.
-dono which is even more honorific, like if you were talking to a Lord or King.
Normally it's:
Sama-higher status
Chan-mostly used for girls
Kun-mostly used for guys
Bozu-an informal way to refer to a boy smilar to the english term kid or squirt.
Sempai-normally addressee to a senior in the school.
Kohai-basically the opposite of -sempai used to addressee and underclassmate.
Sensei- literally means "one who comes before" normally used for teachers doctors or mastered of any profession or art.
[blank] often forgotten in these lists but perhaps the most significant diff between japanese and english. the lack of honorific means the speaker has promession to addressee the person in a very intimate way. usally only family spouse or close friends have this permission. its known as "yobisute". it can also be insulting if one starts calling one without an honorific when the permission hasn't been earrned.
Sempai-normally addressee to a senior in the school.
Kohai-basically the opposite of -sempai used to addressee and underclassmate.
Sensei- literally means "one who comes before" normally used for teachers doctors or mastered of any profession or art.
[blank] often forgotten in these lists but perhaps the most significant diff between japanese and english. the lack of honorific means the speaker has promession to addressee the person in a very intimate way. usally only family spouse or close friends have this permission. its known as "yobisute". it can also be insulting if one starts calling one without an honorific when the permission hasn't been earrned.
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Here below are some extra info ^^
In Japan, it is usual to use honorific titles which come after a person's name. The most common title is san, which means all of "Mr", "Mrs", and "Ms." Hence, in Japanese, Mr Tanaka is referred to as Tanaka-san. Other common titles include sama, a more polite version of san, sensei, kunand chan. These titles are placed after the name. They are not usually used with one's own name.
Correct use of titles is considered very important in Japan. Calling somebody by just their name, without adding a title, is calledyobisute (呼び捨て), and is considered bad manners.
Although titles are usually added to names, there are some exceptions. They are not usually used when talking about a family member, or another member of one's "in-group", to someone from outside the group. For example, inside a company, people use titles such as sanfor each other's names. However, when talking to people from outside their company, they do not use the titles when referring to insiders. This applies even to superiors. For example, the receptionist, when talking to the company president, will certainly use a title such as shachōor Maeda sama. However, when referring to the president when talking to outsiders, the same receptionist will simply refer to Maeda, without any title.
San is also used when talking about entities such as companies. For example, the offices or shop of a company calledKojima denki might be referred to as Kojima Denki-san by another nearby company. This may be seen on the small maps often used in phone books and business cards in Japan, where the names of surrounding companies are written using san.
San is also applied to some kinds of foods. For example, fish used for cooking are sometimes referred to as sakana-san.
Both san and its more formal equivalent, sama, imply a kind of familiarity. In formal speech, the title shi may be preferred.
Schoolteachers typically address male students using kun, while female students are addressed as san or chan.
In the Diet of Japan, diet members and ministers are called kun by the chairpersons. For example, Junichiro Koizumi is called Koizumi Jun'ichirō kun. The only exception is that when Takako Doi was the chairperson of the lower house, she used the san title.
Chan is also used for adults who are considered to be [[kawaii(cute). For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the nickname Shuwa chan in Japanese.
Chan is sometimes applied to male children if the name does not fit with the kun suffix. For example, a boy calledTetsuya will be nicknamed Tetchan rather than Tekkun for reasons more to do with phonetics than anything else.
Although it is usually said that honorifics are not applied to oneself, some women refer to themselves in the third person using chan. For example, a young woman named Maki might call herself Maki-chan rather than using a first person pronoun like watashi. Chan is also used for pets and animals, such as usagi-chan.
In the same way that chan is a version of san, there is also chama (ちゃま) from sama, typically used for an older person.
Non-standard variations of chan also include chin (ちん), and tan (たん).
Correct use of titles is considered very important in Japan. Calling somebody by just their name, without adding a title, is calledyobisute (呼び捨て), and is considered bad manners.
Although titles are usually added to names, there are some exceptions. They are not usually used when talking about a family member, or another member of one's "in-group", to someone from outside the group. For example, inside a company, people use titles such as sanfor each other's names. However, when talking to people from outside their company, they do not use the titles when referring to insiders. This applies even to superiors. For example, the receptionist, when talking to the company president, will certainly use a title such as shachōor Maeda sama. However, when referring to the president when talking to outsiders, the same receptionist will simply refer to Maeda, without any title.
Common honorific titles
San
San (さん) is the most common honorific title, used when addressing most social outsiders, for example, non-family members. San is similar to "Mr", "Ms", "Mrs", and so on. There is no kanji form for san, so it is usually written in hiragana.San may also be used in combination with things other than the name of the person being addressed. For example, a bookseller might be addressed as honya-san"Mr. Bookseller", and a butcher as nikuya-san"Ms. Butcher". A foreigner might be referred to as gaijin-san. See also 6.3. Is gaijin a derogatory term?.San is also used when talking about entities such as companies. For example, the offices or shop of a company calledKojima denki might be referred to as Kojima Denki-san by another nearby company. This may be seen on the small maps often used in phone books and business cards in Japan, where the names of surrounding companies are written using san.
San is also applied to some kinds of foods. For example, fish used for cooking are sometimes referred to as sakana-san.
Both san and its more formal equivalent, sama, imply a kind of familiarity. In formal speech, the title shi may be preferred.
Kun
Kun (君|) is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used for males. It is used by superiors to inferiors, by males of roughly the same age and status to each other, and in addressing male children. In business settings women may also be addressed as kun by superiors.Schoolteachers typically address male students using kun, while female students are addressed as san or chan.
In the Diet of Japan, diet members and ministers are called kun by the chairpersons. For example, Junichiro Koizumi is called Koizumi Jun'ichirō kun. The only exception is that when Takako Doi was the chairperson of the lower house, she used the san title.
Chan
Chan (ちゃん) is a form of san used to refer to children and female family members, close friends and lovers. The change from san to chan is typical of a kind of "baby talk" in Japanese where "sh" sounds are turned into "ch" sounds, such as chitchai for chiisai"small".Chan is also used for adults who are considered to be [[kawaii(cute). For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the nickname Shuwa chan in Japanese.
Chan is sometimes applied to male children if the name does not fit with the kun suffix. For example, a boy calledTetsuya will be nicknamed Tetchan rather than Tekkun for reasons more to do with phonetics than anything else.
Although it is usually said that honorifics are not applied to oneself, some women refer to themselves in the third person using chan. For example, a young woman named Maki might call herself Maki-chan rather than using a first person pronoun like watashi. Chan is also used for pets and animals, such as usagi-chan.
In the same way that chan is a version of san, there is also chama (ちゃま) from sama, typically used for an older person.
Non-standard variations of chan also include chin (ちん), and tan (たん).
Senpai and kōhai
Senpai (先輩) is used by students to refer to or address senior students in an academic or other learning environment, or in athletics and sports clubs, and also in business settings to refer to those in more senior positions. Kōhai (後輩) is the reverse of this. It is used to refer to or address juniors.Sensei
Sensei (先生) is used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, lawyers, politicians, or other authority figures. It is also used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill. For example, Japanese manga fans refer to manga artists using the term sensei, as in Takahashi sensei for manga artist Rumiko Takahashi; the term is used similarly by fans of other creative professionals such as novelists, musicians, and artists. It is also a common martial arts title.Dono and tono(both written 殿) roughly mean "lord". This title is no longer used in daily conversation, though it is still used in some types of written business correspondance. It is also seen on drug prescriptions, certificates and awards.
Shi
Shi (氏) is used in formal writing, and sometimes in very polite speech, for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person who the speaker has never met. For example, the shi title is common in the speech of newsreaders. It is preferred in legal documents, academic journals, and certain other formal written styles because of the familiarity which "san" or "sama" imply. Once a person's name has been used with shi, the person can be referred to with shi alone, without the name, as long as there is only one person being referred to.Sama
Sama (様) is the formal version of san. This honorific is used primarily in addressing persons much higher in rank than oneself, and in commercial and business settings to address and refer to customers. It also forms parts of set phrases such as okyaku-sama(customer) or omachidō-sama ("I am sorry to keep you waiting"). Sama also follows the addressee's name on postal packages and letters.Sama is also often used for people considered to have some high ability or be particularly attractive. If a young man is considered particularly handsome, he might be referred to as Tanaka-sama rather than Tanaka-san by his female admirers. For example, Leonardo DiCaprio has gained the nickname Leo-sama in Japan.Sama is also used in an arrogant context, as in the arrogant male pronoun ore-sama, "my esteemed self", meaning "I". However, this is not used much outside comics or for humorous intent. See also 9.1. What are the personal pronouns of Japanese?
That all . ^^
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