Have you heard of Japanese people call someone, “~ san(\u3055\u3093)”, or “~ chan(\u3061\u3083\u3093)”? Or if you are a baseball fan, you might have heard, “Ma-kun (\u30de\u30fc\u541b)” in the news.\u00a0Ma-kun (\u30de\u30fc\u541b) is referring to Masahiro Tanaka who is a pitcher for NY Yankees. \u00a0In Japanese, we use many honorific suffixes depending on the situation. In the next few articles, I would like to discuss all about Japanese honorific suffixes. I will explain each one of the most common honorific suffixes in detail.<\/p>\n
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Japanese Honorific Suffixes<\/strong><\/p>\n In Japanese language, people often attach honorific suffixes at the end of nouns, including people’s names, nicknames, company names, and animals. There are many types of honorific suffixes in Japanese, but the most common ones are, ~san(\u3055\u3093), ~ chan(\u3061\u3083\u3093), ~ kun(\u304f\u3093), ~sama(\u3055\u307e\u3001\u69d8).<\/strong>\u00a0 In this article, I will explain about\u00a0~san(\u3055\u3093)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~san(\u3055\u3093)<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a very common honorific to be used for any occasion. In Japanese, we normally don’t call each other by first name unless you are related to the person, you are good friends with the person, or the person you are talking to is much younger than yourself. If you meet someone for the first time, you almost always call the person by “last name + san”, for example, “Yamada-san(\u3084\u307e\u3060\u3055\u3093)”, or “Tanaka-san(\u305f\u306a\u304b\u3055\u3093)”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~san(\u3055\u3093) is also used for workplace or store. For example, bookstore is referred to as “Honya-san(\u307b\u3093\u3084\u3055\u3093\u3001\u672c\u5c4b\u3055\u3093)”. Or fish market is referred to as, “Sakanaya-san(\u3055\u304b\u306a\u3084\u3055\u3093\u3001\u9b5a\u5c4b\u3055\u3093)”. \u00a0When you are talking to a younger child, it is common to use this honorific; however, this is also used often during the conversation among females. Females like to add “san(\u3055\u3093)” more often than males to be polite. \u00a0Males might refer to bookstore just as “honya(\u307b\u3093\u3084\u3001\u672c\u5c4b)”, rather than “honya-san(\u307b\u3093\u3084\u3055\u3093\u3001\u672c\u5c4b\u3055\u3093)”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~san(\u3055\u3093) can be also used for animals. Again, especially if you are talking to younger children. San(\u3055\u3093) honorific is attached at the end of an “animal name”. For example, “Zo-san(\u305e\u3046\u3055\u3093), elephant”, “Kuma-san(\u304f\u307e\u3055\u3093), bear”, and “Inu-san(\u3044\u306c\u3055\u3093), dog” etc… If \u00a0conversation is taking place just among adults, this honorific is not typically used. \u00a0Each animal is expressed without san(\u3055\u3093), for example, \u00a0“Zo(\u305d\u3046)”, “Kuma(\u304f\u307e)” and “Inu(\u3044\u306c)” etc..<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One last note,\u00a0~san(\u3055\u3093) is also used at the end of company names. For example, adults might call the company, Mitsubishi by “Mitsubishi-san(\u307f\u3064\u3073\u3057\u3055\u3093\u3001\u4e09\u83f1\u3055\u3093)”. This expression does not have anything to do with speaking to younger children.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hope you got to know a bit about\u00a0~san(\u3055\u3093) honorific suffix. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a comment. Next article will focus on\u00a0~ chan(\u3061\u3083\u3093)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you heard of Japanese people call someone, “~ san(\u3055\u3093)”, or “~ chan(\u3061\u3083\u3093)”? Or if you are a baseball fan, you might have heard, “Ma-kun (\u30de\u30fc\u541b)” in the news.\u00a0Ma-kun (\u30de\u30fc\u541b) is referring to Masahiro Tanaka who is a pitcher for NY Yankees. \u00a0In Japanese, we use many honorific suffixes depending on the situation. In the…<\/p>\n