Honorification in Japan
Anime-to English IV
For those of you who are shooting for "genuine" Anime-style roleplaying but may not be familiar with a great deal of Anime, here are some Japanese honorifics, familiarity terms and school speak comonly used in Anime.
HONORIFICS | -chan | cute; baby talk. Children who grow up together may keep using the -chan honorific into adulthood.For close friends and relatives, especially female ones. | -kun | familer title after name of colleague or student, usually male. Used for male friends and relatives. It can be used for women as well, but typically is not. | -san: | Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss.; The suffix denoting that the person being spoken to is of equal or nearly equal social status. It is not used for people you know well. | -sama | [formal] Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss. Infromal use before m b p is sam- or san-.; Very high respect. Not normally used with other people's names, but it can be. Usually used with a title. | sempai | one's senior (colleague, fellow student).; Upperclassman, or more generally somebody in the same social class but superior to you (ex, 'Kunou-sempai') | kohai | one's junior (colleague, fellow student); Underclassman, or more generally somebody in the same social class but inferior to you. Unlike sempai, kohai is very seldom used as an honorific - generally 'chan' or 'kun' is substituted. | -sensei | Theacher. | kojin | an individual. | kojin-teki (na) | individual, personal. | onna- | woman, female. |
TERMS OF FAMILARITY | English to Japanese (less formal) | Grandfather | Sofu (mine grandfather) or Ojiisan (general term for oldmen) | Grandmather | Sobo (mine-) or Obaasan (general term for oldwomen) | Uncle | Oji (mine-) or Ojisan (genaral term for middle-aged man) | Aunt | Oba (mine-) or Obasan (genaral term for middle-aged woman) | Big Brother | Ani (mine-), Oniisan, Oniisama, Oniichan, Niisan, Niichan, Aniki, etc | Big Sister | Ane (mine-), Oneesan, Oneesama, Oneechan, Neesan, Neechan, Aneki, etc. |
For those of you who are shooting for "genuine" Anime-style roleplaying but may not be familiar with a great deal of Anime, here are some Japanese honorifics, familiarity terms and school speak comonly used in Anime.
HONORIFICS | -chan | cute; baby talk. Children who grow up together may keep using the -chan honorific into adulthood.For close friends and relatives, especially female ones. | -kun | familer title after name of colleague or student, usually male. Used for male friends and relatives. It can be used for women as well, but typically is not. | -san: | Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss.; The suffix denoting that the person being spoken to is of equal or nearly equal social status. It is not used for people you know well. | -sama | [formal] Mr., Ms., Mrs., Miss. Infromal use before m b p is sam- or san-.; Very high respect. Not normally used with other people's names, but it can be. Usually used with a title. | sempai | one's senior (colleague, fellow student).; Upperclassman, or more generally somebody in the same social class but superior to you (ex, 'Kunou-sempai') | kohai | one's junior (colleague, fellow student); Underclassman, or more generally somebody in the same social class but inferior to you. Unlike sempai, kohai is very seldom used as an honorific - generally 'chan' or 'kun' is substituted. | -sensei | Theacher. | kojin | an individual. | kojin-teki (na) | individual, personal. | onna- | woman, female. |
TERMS OF FAMILARITY | English to Japanese (less formal) | Grandfather | Sofu (mine grandfather) or Ojiisan (general term for oldmen) | Grandmather | Sobo (mine-) or Obaasan (general term for oldwomen) | Uncle | Oji (mine-) or Ojisan (genaral term for middle-aged man) | Aunt | Oba (mine-) or Obasan (genaral term for middle-aged woman) | Big Brother | Ani (mine-), Oniisan, Oniisama, Oniichan, Niisan, Niichan, Aniki, etc | Big Sister | Ane (mine-), Oneesan, Oneesama, Oneechan, Neesan, Neechan, Aneki, etc. |