1 Honorifics
▪ San (さん) (sometimes pronounced han (はん) in Kansai dialect) is the most commonplace honorific and is a title of respect typically used between equals of any age. Although the closest analog in English are the honorifics "Mr.", "Miss", "Ms.", or "Mrs.", -san is almost universally added to a person's name; -san can be used in formal and informal contexts, regardless of the person's gender. Because it is the most common honorific, it is also the most often used to convert common nouns into proper ones, as seen below.
San may be used in combination with workplace nouns, so a bookseller might be addressed or referred to as hon'ya-san ("bookstore" + san) and a butcher as nikuya-san ("butcher's shop" + san).
San is sometimes used with company names. For example, the offices or shop of a company called Kojima Denki might be referred to as "Kojima Denki-san" by another nearby company. This may be seen on small maps often used in phone books and business cards in Japan, where the names of surrounding companies are written using -san.
San can be attached to the names of animals or even for cooking; "fish" can be referred to as sakana-san, but both would be considered childish (akin to "Mr. Fish" or "Mr. Fishy" in English) and would be avoided in formal speech. Married people, when referring to their spouse as a third party in a conversation, often refer to them with -san.
Due to -san being gender-neutral and commonly used, it can be used to refer to any stranger or acquaintance whom one does not see as a friend. However, it may not be appropriate when using it on someone who is close or when it is clear that other honorifics should be used.
▪ Sama (様[さま]) is a more respectful version for people of a higher rank than oneself or divine, toward one's guests or customers (such as a sports venue announcer addressing members of the audience), and sometimes toward people one greatly admires. It is supposedly the origin word for -san, and there is no major evidence otherwise. Deities such as native Shinto kami and Jesus Christ are referred to as kami-sama, meaning "Revered spirit-sama". When used to refer to oneself, -sama expresses extreme arrogance (or self-effacing irony), as in praising oneself to be of a higher rank, as with ore-sama (俺様, "my esteemed self").
Sama customarily follows the addressee's name on all formal correspondence and postal services where the addressee is, or is interpreted as, a customer.
Sama also appears in such set phrases as omachidō sama ("thank you for waiting"), gochisō sama ("thank you for the meal"), or otsukare sama ("thank you for a good job").
With the exception of the Emperor of Japan, -sama can be used to informally address the Empress and other members of the Imperial Family. The Emperor is, however, always addressed as Heika ("Your Majesty"). (See "Royal and official titles" below).
▪ Kun (君[くん]) is generally used by people of senior status addressing or referring to those of junior status, by anyone addressing or it can be used when referring to men in general, male children or male teenagers, or among male friends. It can be used by males or females when addressing a male to whom they are emotionally attached, or who they have known for a long time. Although it may seem rude in workplaces, the suffix is also used by seniors when referring to juniors in both academic situations and workplaces, more typically when the two people are associated. [1][citation needed]
Although -kun is generally used for boys, it is not a hard rule. For example, -kun can be used to name a close personal friend or family member of any gender. In business settings, young female employees are addressed as -kun by older males of senior status. It can be used by male teachers addressing their female students.[2]
Kun can mean different things depending on the gender. Kun for females is a more respectful honorific than -chan, which implies childlike cuteness. Kun is not only used to address females formally; it can also be used for a very close friend or family member. Calling a female -kun is not insulting, and can also mean that the person is respected, although that is not the normal implication. Rarely, sisters with the same name, such as "Miku", may be differentiated by calling one "Miku-chan" and the other "Miku-san" or "-sama", and on some occasions "-kun". Chan and -kun occasionally mean similar things. General use of -kun for females implies respectful endearment, and that the person being referred to is sweet and kind.
In the National Diet (Legislature), the Speaker of the House uses -kun when addressing Diet members and ministers. An exception was when Takako Doi was the Speaker of the lower house, where she used the title -san
▪ Chan (ちゃん) is a diminutive suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, -chan is used for babies, young children, close friends, grandparents and sometimes female adolescents. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, or a youthful woman. Using -chan with a superior's name is considered to be condescending and rude. Likewise, using this for someone, especially adults, only known for a short period can be seen as offensive.
Although traditionally, honorifics are not applied to oneself, some people adopt the childlike affectation of referring to themselves in the third person using -chan (childlike because it suggests that one has not learned to distinguish between names used for oneself and names used by others). For example, a young woman named Kanako might call herself Kanako-chan rather than using the first-person pronoun.
Tan Edit
Tan (たん) is an even more cute[3] or affectionate variant of -chan. It evokes a small child's mispronunciation of that form of address, or baby talk – similar to how, for example, a speaker of English might use "widdle" instead of "little" when speaking to a baby. Moe anthropomorphisms are often labeled as -tan, e.g., the commercial mascot Habanero-tan, the manga figure Afghanis-tan or the OS-tans representing operating systems. A more notorious use of the honorific was for the murderer Nevada-tan.
Bō Edit
Bō (坊[ぼう]) is another diminutive that expresses endearment. Like -chan, it is used for babies or young children, but is exclusively used for boys instead of girls.
▪ Senpai (先輩[せんぱい]) is used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club. Teachers are not senpai, but rather they are sensei. Neither are students of the same or lower grade: they are referred to, but never addressed as, kōhai (後輩[こうはい]). In a business environment, those with more experience are senpai. Senpai can also be used for someone you look up to or admire as more than a friend.
Sensei (先生[せんせい], literally meaning "former-born") is used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, politicians, lawyers, and other authority figures. It is used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, such as accomplished novelists, musicians, artists and martial artists. In Japanese martial arts, sensei typically refers to someone who is the head of a dojo. As with senpai, sensei can be used not only as a suffix, but also as a stand-alone title. The term is not generally used when addressing a person with very high academic expertise; the one used instead is hakase (博士[はかせ], lit. "Doctor" or "PhD").
Sensei can be used fawningly, and it can also be employed sarcastically to ridicule such fawning. The Japanese media invoke it (rendered in katakana, akin to scare quotes or italics in English) to highlight the megalomania of those who allow themselves to be sycophantically addressed with the term.[citation needed]
▪ Otōsan (お父さん): father. The descriptive noun is chichi (父).
Ojisan (叔父さん／小父さん／伯父さん): uncle, or also "middle-aged gentleman".
Ojiisan (お祖父さん／御爺さん／お爺さん／御祖父さん): grandfather, or also "male senior-citizen".
Okāsan (お母さん): mother. The descriptive noun is haha (母).
Obasan (伯母さん／小母さん／叔母さん): aunt, or also "middle-aged lady".
Obāsan (お祖母さん／御祖母さん／御婆さん／お婆さん): grandmother, or also "female senior-citizen".
Oniisan (お兄さん): big brother, or also "a young gentleman". The descriptive noun is ani (兄).
Onēsan (お姉さん): big sister, or also "a young lady". The descriptive noun is ane (姉).
The initial o- (お) in these nouns is itself an honorific prefix. In more casual situations the speaker may omit this prefix but will keep the suffix.
Niichan (兄ちゃん) or Niisan (兄さん): when a young sibling addresses his or her own "big brother".
Nēchan (姉ちゃん) or Nēsan (姉さん): when a young sibling addresses his or her own "big sister".
Kāsan (母さん): when a man addresses his own "wife" (the "mother" of their children).
Tōsan (父さん): when a woman addresses her own "husband" (the "father" of their children).
Bāchan (祖母ちゃん): when grandchildren address their "grandma".
Jiichan (祖父ちゃん): when grandchildren address their "grandpa".
