Post by Oomori Aya on Nov 12, 2003 20:22:52 GMT -5
Here's a general guide to honorifics and what you call people, for people who insist on using them...and for people when they do use them, what they mean.
For the examples we'll use Tarou Tanaka (Tarou is the first name.)
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No Honorific
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"Tarou" = Just the first name is VERY VERY casual. Its pretty common amongst female friends, but amongst boys it's generally used mainly among brothers. Family members usually use this with one another, and also young people.
"Tanaka" = Just the last name comes off as very rude. It's almost always someone above speaking to someone below them socially. It comes off rude when you call anyone by their last name without an honorific. However, amongst boys, they can call one another by their last names just fine.
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The Honorific -san: -san is the default honorific. If you're ever in Japan, use stick to this one, it's the only one you'll ever need. It can translate roughly to "mr. or mrs."
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"Tarou-san" = Very uncommon to use the first name with -san. It's generally used for foreigners. Also, when you're with a bunch of people who have the same last name and you want to distinguish someone in particular.
"Tanaka-san" = The most COMMON and polite way to address anyone is with lastname-san. You can use it almost anytime and it's almost always appropriate. This is how classmates who aren't close refer to each other, and just anyone in general who isn't close. Also, polite girls will always use this regardless of how close they are...because it's polite. =P
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The Honorific -sama: This is generally used for people who are your social superiors, presidents, bosses, and customers (yes, the customer is a social superior =P) People you don't know at all (like if you had to contact someone thru mail but didn't ever meet them) and people you generally respect, like that hot guy idol from school. =P
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"Tanaka-sama" = Basically what I wrote above. Very polite, but can come off overly polite, of course, if you use it inappropriately.
"Tarou-sama" = You would never use the first name and -sama together...unless you were a screaming fangirl who was referring to an idol...examples, "Van-sama!" "Juri-sama!" "Utena-sama!" "Rei-sama!"
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The Honorific -kun: Complicated in use, but generally towards a social superior to a social inferior. Such as a boss to a secretary, common amongst boys in the same peer group.
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"Tanaka-kun" = Commonly used to refer to boys in high school who are their age or younger. Also used in the workplace amongst bosses and subordinates.
"Tarou-kun" = Basically for guys who aren't close enough to call a friend by their first name or last name only, but are too close to call them by their lastname-kun. =P
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The Honorific -chan: Mainly used only for children and amongst very close female friends...also within families.
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"Tanaka-chan" = Not really used, but it can be used mockingly.
"Tarou-chan" = Very very close relationship. Maybe a mother to a son. Also popular amongst close female friends. Also used when speaking to children and amongst children. Should never be used with anyone you don't know really well.
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The title -sempai
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"Tanaka-sempai or Tarou-sempai" = Sempai literally means "person who came before." For all intents and purposes, they're simply whoever is an upperclassman to you. If you're particularly close to them you can call them by their first names. In a sense, they're supposed to be role models since they're older...but yeah, you don't have to do anything to gain "sempai" status. =P Oh yes, the opposite of sempai is "kouhai" but you don't call your kouhai "blahblah-kouhai" =P~
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The title -sensei
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"Tanaka-sensei" = Used towards teachers, doctors, and you can also use it towards anyone you respect with a learned ability. For example, mangaka (manga writers) are referred to as blahblah-sensei.
Okay, I think that's all...this is a basic guide, but it really all depends on your personality. For example, Nakata is the rude punk sort of guy so he calls everyone by their lastname only as soon as he thinks he knows them well enough (and if you could hear him speaking in Japanese, he'd be referring to himself as "ore" and everyone else as "omae" =P) So yeah anyways, maybe this'll help those who want to use them but don't know how to use em properly. Obviously, they're somewhat difficult for Americans or Westerners to grasp because...why bother, really? =P But as you probably know, Japan language has many many levels to politeness and rudeness and this is important to them. So if you don't get it, don't feel bad...they're difficult for foreigners to use, which is why if you ever go to Japan, you'll probably never go wrong if you just use -san all the time =P
For the examples we'll use Tarou Tanaka (Tarou is the first name.)
--------------------------------------
No Honorific
--------------------------------------
"Tarou" = Just the first name is VERY VERY casual. Its pretty common amongst female friends, but amongst boys it's generally used mainly among brothers. Family members usually use this with one another, and also young people.
"Tanaka" = Just the last name comes off as very rude. It's almost always someone above speaking to someone below them socially. It comes off rude when you call anyone by their last name without an honorific. However, amongst boys, they can call one another by their last names just fine.
----------------------------------------------
The Honorific -san: -san is the default honorific. If you're ever in Japan, use stick to this one, it's the only one you'll ever need. It can translate roughly to "mr. or mrs."
----------------------------------------------
"Tarou-san" = Very uncommon to use the first name with -san. It's generally used for foreigners. Also, when you're with a bunch of people who have the same last name and you want to distinguish someone in particular.
"Tanaka-san" = The most COMMON and polite way to address anyone is with lastname-san. You can use it almost anytime and it's almost always appropriate. This is how classmates who aren't close refer to each other, and just anyone in general who isn't close. Also, polite girls will always use this regardless of how close they are...because it's polite. =P
---------------------------------------
The Honorific -sama: This is generally used for people who are your social superiors, presidents, bosses, and customers (yes, the customer is a social superior =P) People you don't know at all (like if you had to contact someone thru mail but didn't ever meet them) and people you generally respect, like that hot guy idol from school. =P
---------------------------------------
"Tanaka-sama" = Basically what I wrote above. Very polite, but can come off overly polite, of course, if you use it inappropriately.
"Tarou-sama" = You would never use the first name and -sama together...unless you were a screaming fangirl who was referring to an idol...examples, "Van-sama!" "Juri-sama!" "Utena-sama!" "Rei-sama!"
------------------------------------------
The Honorific -kun: Complicated in use, but generally towards a social superior to a social inferior. Such as a boss to a secretary, common amongst boys in the same peer group.
------------------------------------------
"Tanaka-kun" = Commonly used to refer to boys in high school who are their age or younger. Also used in the workplace amongst bosses and subordinates.
"Tarou-kun" = Basically for guys who aren't close enough to call a friend by their first name or last name only, but are too close to call them by their lastname-kun. =P
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The Honorific -chan: Mainly used only for children and amongst very close female friends...also within families.
-----------------------------------------
"Tanaka-chan" = Not really used, but it can be used mockingly.
"Tarou-chan" = Very very close relationship. Maybe a mother to a son. Also popular amongst close female friends. Also used when speaking to children and amongst children. Should never be used with anyone you don't know really well.
-----------------------------------------
The title -sempai
----------------------------------------
"Tanaka-sempai or Tarou-sempai" = Sempai literally means "person who came before." For all intents and purposes, they're simply whoever is an upperclassman to you. If you're particularly close to them you can call them by their first names. In a sense, they're supposed to be role models since they're older...but yeah, you don't have to do anything to gain "sempai" status. =P Oh yes, the opposite of sempai is "kouhai" but you don't call your kouhai "blahblah-kouhai" =P~
----------------------------------------
The title -sensei
----------------------------------------
"Tanaka-sensei" = Used towards teachers, doctors, and you can also use it towards anyone you respect with a learned ability. For example, mangaka (manga writers) are referred to as blahblah-sensei.
Okay, I think that's all...this is a basic guide, but it really all depends on your personality. For example, Nakata is the rude punk sort of guy so he calls everyone by their lastname only as soon as he thinks he knows them well enough (and if you could hear him speaking in Japanese, he'd be referring to himself as "ore" and everyone else as "omae" =P) So yeah anyways, maybe this'll help those who want to use them but don't know how to use em properly. Obviously, they're somewhat difficult for Americans or Westerners to grasp because...why bother, really? =P But as you probably know, Japan language has many many levels to politeness and rudeness and this is important to them. So if you don't get it, don't feel bad...they're difficult for foreigners to use, which is why if you ever go to Japan, you'll probably never go wrong if you just use -san all the time =P