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Jan 19, 2019 · There are many more Japanese honorifics, but some of the most common ones are: Buchou (部長), Kachou (課長), Shachou (社長) or Kaichou (会長), which refer to specifically ranked people in a company; and there are also honorifics used mostly in a school context like Senpai (先輩, older person), Kouhai (後輩, younger person) or Sensei ...
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Sama, san, kun, chan: the many Japanese honorifics. 19 - Jan...
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Sama (さま) is the most formal and polite Japanese honorific and means “Mr”, “Mrs”, “Ms”, or “Miss” in English. It is used to show respect and admiration for guests, customers, deities, celebrities, or admired people or things.
- 🧑 San (さん) The simplest translation would be "Mr" or "Mrs" (so this is a unisex suffix), but it signifies much more than that. "- San" is used with someone we respect and with whom one is not especially close, for example a colleague or boss, customers or anyone you don’t know very well.
- 🧒 Kun (君，くん) This is a less formal title with a lower level of politeness. In fact the symbol or kanji is the same as that of "kimi", like "you" in its familiar form or the French "tu" (especially between couples).
- 👧 Chan (ちゃん) "-Chan" performs a function similar to "kun", except that it is used mainly with girls. It's quite an affectionate word, which might be used with a friend, a classmate, a little sister, a baby, a grandmother, a girl or a woman to let her know you think she is sweet.
- 🧑💼 Senpai (先輩、せんぱい) This signifies that a person in a group has more experience such as a senior colleague or a high school senior if you’re in a lower grade.
- San. San is essentially the default honorific, and it’s the most common. The closest word in English would be “Mr./ Ms./ Mrs.,” etc., except that san is gender-neutral and used in a much, much broader series of social contexts.
- Kun. Kun is one of the gender-associated honorifics. It’s much more casual than san and is typically used for young or teenage boys—”Shinji-kun!” or “Kawaoru-kun!
- Chan. Chan is kinda-sorta like the female version of kun, except that it’s cuter-feeling. It also can be a bit broader than kun, gender-wise, in referring to any child or pet—specifically because of that cuteness connotation.
- Sama. Sama is basically the intense version of san. Like san, it’s gender-neutral, but it holds a much higher degree of deference. As such, it’s often used to reflect social rank and tacked onto people like kings (“Bossu-sama,” like the king in Ranking of Kings), princesses (“hime-sama” – think Zelda), or god (“kami-sama,” like God Eneru in One Piece).
Japanese honorifics. The Japanese language makes use of a system of honorific speech, called keishō (敬称), which includes honorific suffixes and prefixes when referring to others in a conversation. Suffixes are often gender-specific at the end of names, while prefixes are attached to the beginning of many nouns.
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Explanation and Etymology - (様) sama. "様" (さま) is a Japanese word that can be used as an honorific suffix to indicate respect or reverence towards a person or object. The word originates from the kanji "様", which means "appearance" or "form". The kun reading (native Japanese) of the kanji is "sama", which is how the word is generally ...
Sep 22, 2023 · Here's your go-to guide on Japanese honorifics. Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash. Rule Number One. Never refer to yourself with an honorific. Use your name only. 1. San. You can add the honorific san for people you've just met, ideally with their last name (if they introduced themselves as such). San is used for strangers and for people with ...
