Japanese Honorifics: Difference between revisions

'''<big>Honorifics also used as regular words</big>'''

 

: Usually translated "upperclassman" in stories set in high school or college, but it more precisely means "mentor" or "senior", depending on context; it is also used in workplaces, clubs, etc. for employees/members with seniority. Due to differences between [[romanization]] systems, it can be spelled in Western languages as either "se''n''pai" {Kunrei} or "se''m''pai" {Hepburn}. (Both spellings are technically correct; the former is a closer transliteration of the Japanese spelling, but the latter better reflects the actual pronunciation.)

 

: The inverse of ''-senpai/-sempai'', meaning someone of a lower class year or lower seniority than the speaker. It's not strictly speaking a honorific, and it's considered rude to use to a person's face.

 

Since honorifics are an [[Omnipresent Trope]] in Japanese-language works, please only include examples where: a) the characters use Japanese-language honorifics while speaking some other language, b) the honorifics are translated in some interesting way, or c) the honorifics have some unusual usage.

 

* "''[[Sempai-Kohai|Sempai]]''" is frequently used without explanation in English dubs these days.

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' has power and hierarchy in relationships as a major theme, so it's no surprise that honorifics are used in all sorts of interesting ways to reveal this. (The dub tries its best to get the idea across, but can't always manage.) There's ''lots'' of examples, but one of the major ones is Anthy's habit of using ''-sama'' for the current winner of the duels. At the beginning of the show, she always addresses Saionji as Saionji-''sama'' (translated here as "Master Saionji"). Then, after Utena defeats him, Anthy emotionally devastates him with one sentence:

* Tsuyu from ''[[My Hero Academia]]'' is somewhat vocal about who she wants to call her by her given name followed by [[Japanese Honorifics|"-chan"]]. Izuku often fails to oblige her, which she often responds to with a request to recalled "Tsuyu-chan". This is typically translated as her requesting to be called Tsu. When Himiko Toga calls Tsuyu "Tsuyu-chan" without permission (or Tsu in the translations), Tsuyu requests Himiko to not do that, as she only wants her friends to call her that.

 

* "''Sensei''" has been used unadorned in English since the kung-fu craze of the '70s, used as an equivalent for "master".

** Same goes for "''-san''", especially ever since [[The Karate Kid|Miyagi-sensei]] started calling Daniel Larusso "Daniel-san".

* In ''[[You Only Live Twice]]'', Tanaka addresses 007 as 'Bond-san'.

 

* Alex calls ''Nikita'' "''Sensei''" in the revamped version of the show starring Maggie Q as Nikita.

* In ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'', protagonist Gentaro refers to all his friends with ''yobisute'', partly to reflect his image as a ''[[Japanese Delinquents|yanki]]'', partly because he's all about [[The Power of Friendship]], and maybe partly due to the copious American influence on the show. He even does it with people he ''wants'' to befriend, as seen in episode 8 where he calls [[Jerk Jock|Shun Daimonji]] just "Shun", in spite of the fact that Daimonji is actively antagonizing him. In the previous episode, he does this with the detention teacher and is forced to study while doing a handstand as punishment.

* In one of the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] novels, Giles gets "Watcher-San" and "Giles-Sensei".

 

* In [[Disgaea]], Laharl start to use yobisute on Flonne after a particular event in the story.

* In ''[[Red Steel]]'', the player character is often called "Scott-san", and Tony Tanaka calls Sato "Sato-sama".

* In [[Katawa Shoujo]], despite the story being set in Japan, almost nobody uses honorifics. The most blatant case of their use would be Misha, who attaches "-chan" [[The Nicknamer|to her close friends's names]]: "Hicchan" for Hisao, "Shicchan" for Shizune, "Yucchan" for Yuuko, etc.

 

* In ''[[General Protection Fault]]'', Nick addresses Ki's Japanese-born father (now Nick's father-in-law) as "Oshiro-sama" (Oshiro being his family name). Mr. Oshiro usually calls Nick "gaijin".

** He calls him "Nick-san" when apologizing to him. He initially starts out referring to his daughter Ki as "Kyoko-san," having lost a bet to determine whether Ki would get a Japanese or Chinese name, but is eventually persuaded to call her "Ki-chan."

* Another Western example: Nick from ''[[Skin Horse]]'' appears to have [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=38967#151893 started] calling Unity "zombie-chan".

 

* ''[[Duel Academy R 2]]'' players uses Japanese Honorifics when appropriate.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Japanese Language]]

[[Category:Useful Notes/Japan]]