Japanese titles
Encyclopedia
The Japanese language
uses a broad array of honorific
suffix
es for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Daniel-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral (can be used for males and females), though some are more used for men or women (-kun
is primarily used for males, while -chan
is primarily used for women) and can be attached to first names
as well as surnames, for example, Peter-san, Jessica-san, Smith-san. Using an honorific is generally required when referring to someone, but in some cases it can be dropped or must not be used – see usage notes below.
of the Japanese language, they are a fundamental part of the sociolinguistics
of Japanese, and proper use is essential to proficient and appropriate speech. Significantly, referring to oneself using an honorific, or dropping a honorific when it is required is a serious faux pas
, in either case coming across as clumsy or arrogant.
An honorific is generally used when referring to the person one is talking to (one's interlocutor
), or when referring to an unrelated third party in speech. It is dropped however by some superiors, when referring to one's in-group, and in formal writing, and is never used to refer to oneself, except for dramatic effect, or some exceptional cases.
Dropping the honorific suffix when referring to one's interlocutor, which is known to as , implies a high degree of intimacy and is generally reserved for one's spouse
, younger family members, social inferiors (as in a teacher addressing students in traditional arts), and very close friends. Within sports teams
or among classmates
, where the interlocutors approximately have the same age or seniority, it can also be acceptable to use family names without honorifics. Some people in the younger generation (roughly "born since 1970") prefer to be referred to without an honorific, however, and drop honorifics as a sign of informality even with casual acquaintances.
When referring to a third person, honorifics are used except when referring to one's family members while talking to a non-family-member, or when referring to a member of one's company
while talking to a customer
or someone from another company – this is the uchi-soto
(in-out) distinction. Honorifics are not used to refer to oneself, except to be arrogant (ore-sama), to be cute (-chan), or sometimes when talking to small children, to teach them how to address the speaker.
Use of honorifics is correlated with other forms of honorific speech in Japanese, notably use of the polite form (-masu, desu) versus the plain form – using the plain form with a polite honorific (-san, -sama) can be jarring, for instance.
), or referring to someone on a first-name basis rather than a family-name basis, or using a nickname or diminutive to indicate intimacy. For example, given a person named HASEGAWA Tarō, one may translate Hasegawa-san as "Mr. Hasegawa", and Hasegawa-kun as "Hasegawa" (slightly formal in English, perhaps appropriate in a school setting) or as "Tarō" (appropriate between friends), the informal Tarō-kun as Tarō, and the diminutive Tarō-chan as Tarry or a similar nickname. Similarly, referring to a child by a respectful term (Hasegawa-sama) as by a company referring to a client might be translated as the somewhat archaic "Master
Hasegawa". However, it is not always possible to faithfully reflect the connotations of social status, seniority
, or other relationships implied by suffixes.
San is used in combination with workplace nouns, so a bookseller might be addressed or referred to as honya-san ("bookstore" + san), and a butcher as nikuya-san ("butcher 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 also be attached to the names of animals or even inanimate objects. For example, a pet rabbit might be called usagi-san, and fish used for cooking can be referred to as sakana-san. Both uses would be considered childish (akin to "Mr. Rabbit" in English) and would be avoided in formal speech. Even married people often refer to their spouse with san.
Online, Japanese gamers often append a numeral 3 to another player's name to denote san (e.g. Taro3 conveys Taro-san), since the number three, written 三 (さん, san) in Japanese, is pronounced "san".
"San" can also be used in conjunction with nii or onii. Nii or nii-san is a shorter way of saying onii-san. It means older brother. It is more respectful to say onii-san or nii-san when speaking to your elder brother, than by calling them by their name.
suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. Thus, using chan with a superior's name would be condescending and rude. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, grandparents and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, close friends, or any youthful woman. It can be used for males in some circumstances, but in general this use is rather condescending or intimate.
Although traditionally honorifics are not applied to oneself, some young women adopt the childish affectation of referring to themselves in the third person using chan (childish because it suggests that one has not learned to distinguish between names used for self and names used by others). For example, a young woman named Kanako might call herself Kanako-chan rather than using a first person pronoun. Also, the very common female name suffix -ko (〜子) may be dropped, as in Kana-chan.
that expresses endearment. Like "chan", it is used for babies and young children, but is commonly used for boys instead of girls.
In the Diet of Japan (Legislature)
, chairpersons use kun when addressing diet members and ministers. An exception was when Takako Doi
was the chairperson of the lower house: she used the san title.
Sama customarily follows the addressee's name on postal packages and letters and in business email.
Sama also appears in such set phrase
s as o-machidō sama ("sorry to keep you waiting"), o-tsukare sama (an expression of empathy for people who have been working long and hard), and go-kurō sama (an expression recognizing someone's labors), but although this is written with the same kanji
, it is semantically distinct from the sama used as a term of address.
A is a junior, the reverse of senpai, but it is not normally used as an honorific.
A means student and is not normally used as an honorific.
honorific adj. conferring honor or a given title
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.
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.
In a business setting, it is common to refer to people using their rank, especially for positions of authority, such as or . Within one's own company or when speaking of another company, title + san is used, so a president is Shachō-san. When speaking of one's own company to a customer or another company, the title is used by itself or attached to a name, so a department chief named Suzuki is referred to as Buchō or Suzuki-buchō.
However, although "suspect" and "defendant" began as neutral descriptions, they have become derogatory over time. When Gorō Inagaki
was arrested for a traffic accident in 2001, some media referred him with the newly made title , originating from the English word member, to avoid use of . But in addition to being criticized as an unnatural term, this title also became derogatory almost instantly – see euphemism treadmill.
When mentioning a company's name, it is considered important to include its status depending on whether it is or . These are often abbreviated as 株 and 有 respectively.
. It is/was also used to indicate that the person referred to has the same (high) rank as the referrer, yet commands respect from the speaker.
When used in conversation in present day it is often used as a joke expressing an exaggeration of age. This is also commonly used in anime/manga; particularly by foreigners, old people, and people of low standing, especially in shounen anime/manga.
. The most famous example is the Prince Hikaru Genji, protagonist of The Tale of Genji
who was called "Hikaru no Kimi "(光の君). Nowadays, this suffix can be used as a metaphor for someone who behaves like a prince or princess from ancient times, but it is very rare. Its main usage remains in historical dramas.
This suffix also appears when addressing lovers in letters from a man to a woman, as in, "Murasaki No kimi" or "My beloved Ms. Murasaki".
. Junior and senior students are organized via a senpai/kōhai system.
Also in some systems of karate, O´Sensei is the title of the (deceased) head of the style.
Various titles are also employed to refer to senior instructors. Which titles are used depends on the particular licensing organization.
titles developed by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai
, the Kokusai Budoin and the International Martial Arts Federation Europe.: Instructor. refers to an advanced teacher. refers to a senior expert considered a "teacher of teachers". This title is used by many different arts for the top few instructors of that style, and is sometimes translated "Grand Master".: awarded by a special board of examiners.
., which in everyday Japanese can be a more modest synonym for sensei, is sometimes used to indicate an instructor., master, especially a sumo
coach. The literal sense is of someone in loco parentis
., merely means chief instructor; unlike the titles above it is not related to grade., intermediate instructor, also unrelated to grade. is another title used for martial arts instructors., literally "barrier", used for sumo wrestlers in the top two divisions (sekitori).
Note that unlike a proper honorific, use of such suffixes is governed largely by how they sound in conjunction with a particular name, and on the effect the speaker is trying to achieve.
versions—mispronunciations stereotypically associated with small children, and hence, cuteness. The baby talk version of sama is , for example, and in fact chan was a baby talk version of san that eventually became regarded as an ordinary honorific.
There are even baby talk versions of baby talk versions. Chan can be changed to , and less commonly, to . These are popularly used in the names of moe anthropomorphism
s, in which a cute female, or less commonly male character represents an object, concept, or popular consumer product. Well-known examples include the OS-tan
operating system
anthropomorphisms, charcoal mascot Binchō-tan.
The general rule is that a younger family member (e.g., a young brother) addresses an older family member (e.g., a big brother) using an honorific form, while the older family member calls the younger one only by name.
The honorific forms are:
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.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
uses a broad array of honorific
Honorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...
suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
es for addressing or referring to people, for example -san, as in Daniel-san. These honorifics are gender-neutral (can be used for males and females), though some are more used for men or women (-kun
Kun
Kun may refer to:* Kun and Peng, two forms of a creature from Chinese mythology* Kun is in Finnish mythology* Kunqu or Kun Opera, a Chinese opera genre* kun , a Japanese honorific* the kun'yomi reading of Kanji...
is primarily used for males, while -chan
Chan
-People:* Chan Marshall, American musician better known as Cat Power* Chan , Chinese surname; Mandarin transcription of the same name is Chen ** Agnes Chan , Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan...
is primarily used for women) and can be attached to first names
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
as well as surnames, for example, Peter-san, Jessica-san, Smith-san. Using an honorific is generally required when referring to someone, but in some cases it can be dropped or must not be used – see usage notes below.
Usage
Although honorifics are not part of the basic grammarGrammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
of the Japanese language, they are a fundamental part of the sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...
of Japanese, and proper use is essential to proficient and appropriate speech. Significantly, referring to oneself using an honorific, or dropping a honorific when it is required is a serious faux pas
Faux pas
A faux pas is a violation of accepted social norms . Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another...
, in either case coming across as clumsy or arrogant.
An honorific is generally used when referring to the person one is talking to (one's interlocutor
Interlocutor (linguistics)
An interlocutor is the person to whom speech is directed . In many Romance languages, the subject who is/are talking is/are the locutor. The use of the word 'locutor,' however, is not yet formally correct in the English language...
), or when referring to an unrelated third party in speech. It is dropped however by some superiors, when referring to one's in-group, and in formal writing, and is never used to refer to oneself, except for dramatic effect, or some exceptional cases.
Dropping the honorific suffix when referring to one's interlocutor, which is known to as , implies a high degree of intimacy and is generally reserved for one's spouse
Spouse
The term spouse generally refers to a partner in a marriage:* Husband, referring to a male partner* Wife, referring to a female partner* In some usages, a partner in a civil union, domestic partnership or common-law marriage- See also :* Bride...
, younger family members, social inferiors (as in a teacher addressing students in traditional arts), and very close friends. Within sports teams
Team sport
A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as...
or among classmates
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
, where the interlocutors approximately have the same age or seniority, it can also be acceptable to use family names without honorifics. Some people in the younger generation (roughly "born since 1970") prefer to be referred to without an honorific, however, and drop honorifics as a sign of informality even with casual acquaintances.
When referring to a third person, honorifics are used except when referring to one's family members while talking to a non-family-member, or when referring to a member of one's company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
while talking to a customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
or someone from another company – this is the uchi-soto
Uchi-soto
Uchi-soto in the Japanese language is the distinction between in-groups and out-groups . This distinction between groups is not merely a fundamental part of Japanese social custom, but is also directly reflected in the Japanese language itself.The basic concept revolves around dividing people into...
(in-out) distinction. Honorifics are not used to refer to oneself, except to be arrogant (ore-sama), to be cute (-chan), or sometimes when talking to small children, to teach them how to address the speaker.
Use of honorifics is correlated with other forms of honorific speech in Japanese, notably use of the polite form (-masu, desu) versus the plain form – using the plain form with a polite honorific (-san, -sama) can be jarring, for instance.
Translation
When translating honorific suffixes to other languages, some analogous form of T–V distinction is generally used (which may involve different pronouns – tu/vous or thee/thou – or honorifics – see English honorificsEnglish honorifics
In the English language an English honorific is a title prefixing a person's name, e.g.: Miss, Ms., Mr, Sir, Mrs, Dr and Lord...
), or referring to someone on a first-name basis rather than a family-name basis, or using a nickname or diminutive to indicate intimacy. For example, given a person named HASEGAWA Tarō, one may translate Hasegawa-san as "Mr. Hasegawa", and Hasegawa-kun as "Hasegawa" (slightly formal in English, perhaps appropriate in a school setting) or as "Tarō" (appropriate between friends), the informal Tarō-kun as Tarō, and the diminutive Tarō-chan as Tarry or a similar nickname. Similarly, referring to a child by a respectful term (Hasegawa-sama) as by a company referring to a client might be translated as the somewhat archaic "Master
Master (form of address)
Master is an archaic masculine title or form of address in English.- In English and Welsh society :Master was used in England for men of some rank, especially "free masters" of a trade guild and by any manual worker or servant employee to his employer , but also generally by those lower in status...
Hasegawa". However, it is not always possible to faithfully reflect the connotations of social status, seniority
Seniority
Seniority is the concept of a person or group of people being in charge or in command of another person or group. This control is often granted to the senior person due to experience or length of service in a given position, but it is not uncommon for a senior person to have less experience or...
, or other relationships implied by suffixes.
San
(sometimes pronounced in Kansai dialect), derived from sama (see below), 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", "Mrs.", or "Ms.", san is almost universally added to a person's name, in both formal and informal contexts. However, in addition to being used with people's names, it is also employed in a variety of other ways.San is used in combination with workplace nouns, so a bookseller might be addressed or referred to as honya-san ("bookstore" + san), and a butcher as nikuya-san ("butcher 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 also be attached to the names of animals or even inanimate objects. For example, a pet rabbit might be called usagi-san, and fish used for cooking can be referred to as sakana-san. Both uses would be considered childish (akin to "Mr. Rabbit" in English) and would be avoided in formal speech. Even married people often refer to their spouse with san.
Online, Japanese gamers often append a numeral 3 to another player's name to denote san (e.g. Taro3 conveys Taro-san), since the number three, written 三 (さん, san) in Japanese, is pronounced "san".
"San" can also be used in conjunction with nii or onii. Nii or nii-san is a shorter way of saying onii-san. It means older brother. It is more respectful to say onii-san or nii-san when speaking to your elder brother, than by calling them by their name.
Chan
is a diminutiveHypocoristic
A hypocorism is a shorter form of a word or given name, for example, when used in more intimate situations as a nickname or term of endearment.- Derivation :Hypocorisms are often generated as:...
suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. Thus, using chan with a superior's name would be condescending and rude. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, grandparents and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, close friends, or any youthful woman. It can be used for males in some circumstances, but in general this use is rather condescending or intimate.
Although traditionally honorifics are not applied to oneself, some young women adopt the childish affectation of referring to themselves in the third person using chan (childish because it suggests that one has not learned to distinguish between names used for self and names used by others). For example, a young woman named Kanako might call herself Kanako-chan rather than using a first person pronoun. Also, the very common female name suffix -ko (〜子) may be dropped, as in Kana-chan.
Bō
is another diminutiveHypocoristic
A hypocorism is a shorter form of a word or given name, for example, when used in more intimate situations as a nickname or term of endearment.- Derivation :Hypocorisms are often generated as:...
that expresses endearment. Like "chan", it is used for babies and young children, but is commonly used for boys instead of girls.
Kun
is used by persons of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or male teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time. Although kun is generally used for boys, that is not a hard rule. For example, kun can be used to name a close personal friend or family member of either gender. Also, in business settings, young female employees may also be addressed as kun by older males of senior status. It can also be used by male teachers addressing their female students.In the Diet of Japan (Legislature)
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
, chairpersons use kun when addressing diet members and ministers. An exception was when Takako Doi
Takako Doi
was a prominent Japanese politician from 1980 until her retirement in 2005.Doi was born in Hyōgo Prefecture and graduated from Doshisha University, where she studied law. She was elected to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet, as a member of the Japan Socialist Party in 1969,...
was the chairperson of the lower house: she used the san title.
Sama
is a markedly more respectful version of san. It is used mainly to refer to people much higher in rank than oneself, toward one's customers, and sometimes toward people one greatly admires. When used to refer to oneself, sama expresses extreme arrogance (or self-effacing irony), as with .Sama customarily follows the addressee's name on postal packages and letters and in business email.
Sama also appears in such set phrase
Set phrase
A set phrase or fixed phrase is a phrase whose parts are fixed, even if the phrase could be changed without harming the literal meaning. This is because a set phrase is a culturally accepted phrase. A set phrase does not necessarily have any literal meaning in and of itself. Set phrases may...
s as o-machidō sama ("sorry to keep you waiting"), o-tsukare sama (an expression of empathy for people who have been working long and hard), and go-kurō sama (an expression recognizing someone's labors), but although this is written with the same kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, it is semantically distinct from the sama used as a term of address.
Senpai, Kōhai and Gakusei
is used to address or refer to one's senior colleagues (brown belt) in a school, a dojo, sports club. So at school, the students (Gakusei) in higher grades than oneself are Senpai. Students of the same or lower grade are not Senpai, nor are teachers: they are referred to as Kōhai or Gakusei. In a business environment, colleagues with more experience are Senpai, but one's boss is not a Senpai. Like "Doctor" in English, Senpai can be used by itself as well as with a name. Due to the phonological rules of the Japanese language, although spelled senpai, the n sound turns to an m sound, thereby being pronounced sempai.A is a junior, the reverse of senpai, but it is not normally used as an honorific.
A means student and is not normally used as an honorific.
honorific adj. conferring honor or a given title
Sensei
(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, and is also applied to novelists, poets, painters, and other artists, including mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
artists. In Japanese martial arts
Budo
is a Japanese term describing martial arts. In English, it is used almost exclusively in reference to Japanese martial arts.-Etymology:Budō is a compound of the root bu , meaning war or martial; and dō , meaning path or way. Specifically, dō is derived from the Buddhist Sanskrit mārga...
, Sensei typically refers to someone who is the head of a dojo
Dojo
A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
. As with Senpai, Sensei can be used not only as a suffix, but also as a stand-alone title.
Sensei can be used fawningly, and it can also be employed sarcastically to ridicule such fawning. The Japanese media invoke it (rendered in katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
, akin to scare quotes
Scare quotes
Scare quotes are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase to indicate that it does not signify its literal or conventional meaning.- History :Use of the term "scare quotes" appears to have arisen at some point during the first half of the 20th century...
or italics
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
in English) to highlight the megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
of those who allow themselves to be sycophantically addressed with the term.
Shi
is used in formal writing, and sometimes in very formal speech, for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person known through publications whom the speaker has never actually 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. 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.Occupation-related titles
It is common to use a job title after someone's name, instead of using a general honorific. For example, an named Ichiro might be referred to as "Ichiro-senshu" rather than "Ichiro-san", and a named Suzuki might be referred to as "Suzuki-tōryō" rather than "Suzuki-san".In a business setting, it is common to refer to people using their rank, especially for positions of authority, such as or . Within one's own company or when speaking of another company, title + san is used, so a president is Shachō-san. When speaking of one's own company to a customer or another company, the title is used by itself or attached to a name, so a department chief named Suzuki is referred to as Buchō or Suzuki-buchō.
For criminals and the accused
Convicted and suspected criminals were once referred to without any title, but now an effort is made to distinguish between , , and , so as not to presume guilt before anything has been proven. These titles can be used by themselves or attached to names.However, although "suspect" and "defendant" began as neutral descriptions, they have become derogatory over time. When Gorō Inagaki
Goro Inagaki
is a Japanese musician and actor from Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan. Inagaki is a member of the Japanese pop group SMAP. His career began while he was in junior high school, when his sister submitted his picture to a talent company; he was subsequently chosen to join SMAP, which has a considerable...
was arrested for a traffic accident in 2001, some media referred him with the newly made title , originating from the English word member, to avoid use of . But in addition to being criticized as an unnatural term, this title also became derogatory almost instantly – see euphemism treadmill.
For companies
There are several different words for "our company" and "your company." "Our company" can be expressed with the humble or the neutral , and "your company" can be expressed with the honorific or . Additionally, the neutral can refer to either the speaker's or the listener's company. All of these titles are used by themselves, not attached to names.When mentioning a company's name, it is considered important to include its status depending on whether it is or . These are often abbreviated as 株 and 有 respectively.
Dono/tono
, pronounced when attached to a name, roughly means "lord" or "master". It does not equate noble status; rather it is a term akin to "milord" or French "monseigneur," and lies in between san and sama in level of respect. This title is not commonly used in daily conversation, but it is still used in some types of written business correspondence, as well as on certificates and awards, and in written correspondence in tea ceremoniesJapanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
. It is/was also used to indicate that the person referred to has the same (high) rank as the referrer, yet commands respect from the speaker.
When used in conversation in present day it is often used as a joke expressing an exaggeration of age. This is also commonly used in anime/manga; particularly by foreigners, old people, and people of low standing, especially in shounen anime/manga.
No kimi
is another suffix coming from Japanese history. It was used to denominate Lords and Ladies in the Court, especially during the Heian periodHeian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
. The most famous example is the Prince Hikaru Genji, protagonist of The Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji
is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be...
who was called "Hikaru no Kimi "(光の君). Nowadays, this suffix can be used as a metaphor for someone who behaves like a prince or princess from ancient times, but it is very rare. Its main usage remains in historical dramas.
This suffix also appears when addressing lovers in letters from a man to a woman, as in, "Murasaki No kimi" or "My beloved Ms. Murasaki".
Ue
literally means "above", and denotes a high level of respect. While its use is no longer very common, it is still seen in constructions like and , reverent terms for "father" and "mother" respectively. Receipts that do not require specification of the payer's name are often filled in with ue-sama.Royal and official titles
- is used for sovereign royalty, similar to "Majesty" in English. For example, means "His Majesty the EmperorEmperor of JapanThe Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
" and means Her Majesty the Empress. is His Majesty the King and is Her Majesty the Queen. Heika by itself can also be used as a direct term of address, equivalent to "Your Majesty". - is used for non-sovereign royalty, similar to "Royal Highness". For example, . Denka can be used by itself, like "Your Royal Highness."
- is for addressing the consort of the prince, and is used the same way as the other royal titles.
- means "Your Excellency" and is used for heads of state (except for those addressed by Heika or Denka), ministers including the Prime Minister of JapanPrime Minister of JapanThe is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
, ambassadors and other high-rank officials such as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. It too can be used by itself or attached to a specific title. - means "President" and is used for any national president. It is most commonly attached to a name, such as the 44th President of the United States, .
Martial arts titles
Martial artists often address their teachers as senseiSensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
. Junior and senior students are organized via a senpai/kōhai system.
Also in some systems of karate, O´Sensei is the title of the (deceased) head of the style.
Various titles are also employed to refer to senior instructors. Which titles are used depends on the particular licensing organization.
Shōgō
are martial artsMartial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
titles developed by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai
Dai Nippon Butoku Kai
is a Japanese martial arts organization established in 1895 in Kyoto, Japan, under the authority of the Ministry of Education and sanction of the Emperor Meiji. Its purpose, at that time, was to standardize martial disciplines and systems throughout Japan. This was the first official martial arts...
, the Kokusai Budoin and the International Martial Arts Federation Europe.: Instructor. refers to an advanced teacher. refers to a senior expert considered a "teacher of teachers". This title is used by many different arts for the top few instructors of that style, and is sometimes translated "Grand Master".: awarded by a special board of examiners.
Other martial arts titles
an honorary title given to a warrior of legendary skill in swordsmanshipSwordsmanship
Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to any martial art involving the use of a sword...
., which in everyday Japanese can be a more modest synonym for sensei, is sometimes used to indicate an instructor., master, especially a sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
coach. The literal sense is of someone in loco parentis
In loco parentis
The term in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent"" refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent...
., merely means chief instructor; unlike the titles above it is not related to grade., intermediate instructor, also unrelated to grade. is another title used for martial arts instructors., literally "barrier", used for sumo wrestlers in the top two divisions (sekitori).
Other titles
, Buddhist monk, Catholic priest (lit. Godfather). A Catholic priest ( (lit. minister of worship) receives this title.Euphonic suffixes and wordplay
In informal speech, some Japanese people may use contrived suffixes in place of normal honorifics. This is essentially a form of wordplay, with suffixes being chosen for their sound, or for friendly or scornful connotations. Although the range of such suffixes that might be coined is limitless, some have gained such widespread usage that the boundary between established honorifics and wordplay has become a little blurred. Examples of such suffixes include variations on chan (see below), bee (scornful), and rin (friendly).Note that unlike a proper honorific, use of such suffixes is governed largely by how they sound in conjunction with a particular name, and on the effect the speaker is trying to achieve.
Baby talk variations
Some honorifics have baby talkBaby talk
Baby talk, also referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed speech or child-directed speech and informally as "motherese", "parentese", "mommy talk", or "daddy talk" is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants.It is usually delivered with a "cooing"...
versions—mispronunciations stereotypically associated with small children, and hence, cuteness. The baby talk version of sama is , for example, and in fact chan was a baby talk version of san that eventually became regarded as an ordinary honorific.
There are even baby talk versions of baby talk versions. Chan can be changed to , and less commonly, to . These are popularly used in the names of moe anthropomorphism
Moé anthropomorphism
is a form of anthropomorphism where moe qualities are given to non-human beings, objects, concepts, or phenomena. In addition to moe features, moe anthropomorphisms are also characterized by their accessories, which serve to emphasize their original forms before anthropomorphosis...
s, in which a cute female, or less commonly male character represents an object, concept, or popular consumer product. Well-known examples include the OS-tan
OS-tan
The OS-tan is an Internet phenomenon or meme that originated within the Japanese Futaba Channel. The OS-tan are the moe anthropomorphism/personification of several operating systems by various amateur Japanese artists...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
anthropomorphisms, charcoal mascot Binchō-tan.
Familial honorifics
Words for family members have two different forms in Japanese. When referring to one's own family members while speaking to a non-family-member, neutral, descriptive nouns are used, such as haha (母) for "mother" and ani (兄) for "older brother". When addressing one's own family members or addressing or referring to someone else's family members, honorific forms are used. Using the suffix -san, as is most common, "mother" becomes okā-san (お母さん) and "older brother" becomes onī-san (お兄さん). The honorifics -chan and -sama may also be used instead of -san, to express a higher level of closeness or reverence, respectively.The general rule is that a younger family member (e.g., a young brother) addresses an older family member (e.g., a big brother) using an honorific form, while the older family member calls the younger one only by name.
The honorific forms are:
- Otō-san (お父さん): father. The descriptive noun is .
- Oji-san (叔父さん／小父さん／伯父さん): uncle, or also "middle-aged gentleman".
- Ojī-san (お祖父さん／御爺さん／お爺さん／御祖父さん): grandpa, or also "male senior-citizen".
- Okā-san (お母さん): mother. The descriptive noun is .
- Oba-san (伯母さん／小母さん／叔母さん): aunt, or also "middle-aged lady".
- Obā-san (お祖母さん／御祖母さん／御婆さん／お婆さん): grandma, or also "female senior-citizen".
- Onī-san (お兄さん): big brother, or also "a young gentleman". The descriptive noun is .
- Onē-san (お姉さん): big sister, or also "a young lady". The descriptive noun is .
The initial o- (お) in these nouns is itself an honorific prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
. In more casual situations the speaker may omit this prefix but will keep the suffix.
- Nī-chan (兄ちゃん) or Nī-san (兄さん): when a young sibling addresses his or her own "big brother".
- Nē-chan (姉ちゃん) or Nē-san (姉さん): when a young sibling addresses his or her own "big sister".
- Kā-san (母さん): when a man addresses his own "wife" (the "mother" of their children).
- Bā-chan (祖母ちゃん): when the grandchildren address their "grandma".
See also
- AizuchiAizuchiAizuchi is the Japanese term for frequent interjections during a conversation that indicate the listener is paying attention and understanding the speaker. In linguistic terms, these are a form of phatic expression...
- Honorific speech in Japanese
- Etiquette in Japan
- Japanese pronounsJapanese pronounsPronouns are used less frequently in the Japanese language than in many other languages, mainly because there is no grammatical requirement to include the subject in a sentence. So, pronouns can seldomly be translated from English to Japanese on a one-on-one basis.The common, English pronouns, such...
Other languages
- T–V distinction, politeness differences more generally
- Chinese honorificsChinese honorificsChinese honorifics were developed due to class consciousness and Confucian principles of order and respect in Ancient and Imperial China. The Chinese polite language also affects Japanese honorifics conceptually; both emphasized the idea of classes and in-group vs. out-group. So the language used...
- Chinese titlesChinese titlesIn Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and other Chinese-speaking societies around the world, an honorific title is attached after the family name of an individual when addressing that person...
- Korean honorificsKorean honorificsThe Korean language reflects the important observance of a speaker or writer's relationships with both the subject of the sentence and the audience. Korean grammar uses an extensive system of honorifics to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to...
Further reading
- Poser, William J. (1990) "Evidence for Foot Structure in Japanese". Language 66.1.78-105. Reprinted in Natsuko Tsujimura (ed.) Japanese Linguistics: Critical Concepts in Linguistics. Oxford: Routledge, 2005, pp. 159–190.