This course summarizes all the Japanese honorary suffixes seen in this fourth part. Everything will be summarized but I will not go into details. I will also add some additional examples.
I therefore strongly advise you to revise the following course : Japanese Honorary Suffixes.
This lesson includes many new vocabulary words, the list of which with pronunciation is given just before the conclusion. So, if you don’t recognize some words, refer to the list.
The last lesson of the season. The summary. Several months of work, more than a year of work elsewhere to finally arrive at this final chapter.
This introduction does not have to be any longer than it already is. I present to you directly below ALL the honorary suffixes encountered so far.
Part of the summary is copied and pasted on the course titled « Japanese honorary suffixes ». The suffixes encountered subsequently have been added.
さん → is used with those we do not know well, regardless of gender, age or social position, a neutral term that we could almost translate as « Mister / Sir / Madam ». Very used to name someone who is not necessarily close but this suffix can also be used within a couple.
様 . さま → more respectful version of さん and is used in some formal contexts to address people of very high status, such as in the professional, with clients or more generally speaking of gods.
君 . クン → intended for adolescents and young men, which is used to address all male people for whom we have affection. Use when talking with a friend (male), classmate (male), little brother or younger boy. Boys and men use it with girls and women only if they are very close and reciprocally, girls will use it with them too. For example, a friend (female), a classmate (female) or an employee at the office in a professional setting (female too).
ちゃん → informal suffix intended most often for very young people, generally used towards a woman, an endearing, cute girl. It is used to lovingly address young women you are close to, children, a baby, an animal or a grandmother you cherish. It can very well also be used in a couple or when talking about a very appreciated person. Do not use it with people about whom you don’t know much. Derivative : たん, an even cuter version.
氏 . シ → it can be translated as « sir » or « madam » depending on whether you are addressing a man or a woman. It is used towards a person that we do not know directly. This suffix is used in official formal speeches, particularly on news broadcasts, in various TV shows with a speaker or presenter, and on legal documents.
先生 . センセイ → honorary title granted to a specialist in his field, someone who has reached a certain level recognized by all, very often a teacher, a doctor, a martial arts master, a musician or even a mangaka.
博士 . はかせ → honorary title granted to a doctor (person with a doctorate degree), is different from 先生 . センセイ which is awarded to a specialist in a field, 博士 . はかせ is awarded to a real doctor with a doctorate in his pocket.
先輩 . センパイ → honorary title which designates an older person, a senior or higher in the same category as his own, in the same structure, for example at school or in a sports club or at work. Most often does not translate into English.
後輩 . コウハイ → is not considered so much an honorary suffix. Used to address a person younger than yourself, a cadet or below. We will not use it as an honorary title because it is considered demeaning, depreciating. Instead, we’ll use the honorary suffixes 君 . クン and ちゃん which have roughly the same meaning and are therefore a good alternative.
陛下 . ヘイカ → honorary title granted to a monarch, a sovereign, for example a king, an emperor. Most often translated as « Majesty », « Highness », « Excellency ».
殿 . との / どの → non-honorary title, translates to « Lord », very masculine, gives a grandiose style, very present in the stories taking place at the time of feudal Japan.
坊 . ボウ → non-honorary title, which is also a male non-honorary title and which corresponds to a young boy for whom we have tenderness, a baby for example. Male equivalent of ちゃん.
NOTE : there is two different words to say « baby ». Either 赤ん坊 . あかんボウ to refer to a male baby, either 赤ちゃん . あかちゃん which can be used for both a male and female baby (even though the ちゃん suffix is rather feminine).
姫 . ひめ → non-honorary title, translates to « princess » and can designate either the king’s daughter or a daughter of a noble family.
王 . オウ → non-honorary title, translates to « King ».
国王 . コクオウ → non-honorary title, translates to « King ».
女王 . ジョオウ → non-honorary title, translates to « Queen ».
王女 . オウジョ → non-honorary title, translates to « Princess ». This title designates very precisely the king’s daughter.
王子 . オウジ → non-honorary title, translates to « Prince ». This title designates very precisely the king’s son.
大統領 . ダイトウリョウ → non-honorary title, translates to « the President ». This title very precisely designates the head of State.
閣下 . カッカ → honorary title, translates to « Your Excellency / Sir / Madam ». This title is awarded to heads of state or emissaries.
I now give you two other unpublished non-honorary titles. They are considered archaic, widely used before the Meiji era. You will meet them in stories set in feudal Japan, in movies, series, mangas :
父上 . ちちうえ → father, dad (used by children in samurai families to respectfully address their father)
母上 . ははうえ → mother, mom (used by children in samurai families to respectfully address their mothers)
Now, a few more honorary suffixes that you will come across in a professional environment :
市長 . シチョウ . the mayor of the city
町長 . チョウチョウ . the mayor of the town
村長 . ソンチョウ . the mayor of the village, the village chief
部長 . ブチョウ . the head of the department, the manager (can designate the general manager or the head of a legal, editorial etc. department. or the chef or president of a club)
店長 . テンチョウ . the manager (of a store, a business, a restaurant)
店員 . テンイン . the salesman, the saleswoman
女店員 . ジョテンイン . the saleswoman
主将 . シュショウ . the captain of a team (sport)
コーチ . the coach (sport)
室長 . シツチョウ . the section chief (may designate the section manager, the section or department head)
Nota : remember that this non-honorary title doesn’t mean much. Within Japanese society, whether in the public or private sector, there is no exact definition for this title, which makes its use quite rare.
課長 . カチョウ . the head of service (may designate the section manager, the section or department head)
会長 . カイチョウ . the president (may designate the president of an assembly, a group or an association)
生徒会長 . セイトカイチョウ . the head of the student council, the president of the student council (very present in the school environment, often abbreviated 会長)
社長 . シャチョウ . the president (designates the president of the company, the CEO)
館長 . カンチョウ . the chef, the director (designates the head or director of structures ending with 館 like 図書館 (the library))
園長 . エンチョウ . the director (designates the director of structures ending in 園 like 庭園 (the pleasure garden) when speaking of palace gardens for example. Or the director of a 幼稚園 / 保育園 / 育児園 (the kindergarten), a 植物園 (the botanical garden) or a 動物公園 / 動物園 (the zoo))
船長 . センチョウ . the captain (of a ship)
Then, you have the non-honorary titles to designate the managers of traditional Japanese ryokans and restaurants. Remember the following :
Even if the word 旅館 . リョカン ends with the kanji 館, the non-honorific titles to designate the managers do not follow the same pattern. You have to learn them by heart.
大女将 .
おおおかみ . the manager (the oldest and most experienced)
女将 .
おかみ / ジョショウ / ニョショウ . the manager
若女将 .
わかおかみ . the manager (the youngest and less experienced)
I now give you some additional titles that you might come across in the school environment. All these titles are completely new :
学園長 . ガクエンチョウ . the director of a university
校長 .
コウチョウ . the school principal
(designates the principal, the principal of the structures ending with 校 like 学校 (the school), 男子校 (the school for boys) and 女子校 (the school for girls))
院長 . インチョウ . the school principal (designates the director of structures ending in 院 like 病院 (the hospital), 動物病院 (the veterinary clinic, the veterinary hospital))
学級委員 . ガッキュウイイン . the class delegate
図書委員 . トショイイン . the library delegate
副学級委員 . フクガッキュウイイン . the class vice-delegate, the class vice-representative
副図書委員 . フクトショイイン . the vice-delegate of the library
学級委員長 . ガッキュウイインチョウ . the class president
図書委員長 . トショイインチョウ . the library president
副学級委員長 . フクガッキュウイインチョウ . the class assistant president
副図書委員長 . フクトショイインチョウ . the library assistant president
Note : quite frankly, the last two are very rarely used.
If you look closely at the words 副学級委員 and 副図書委員, you will notice the kanji 副. Placed as a prefix, this kanji alone means « assistant », « auxiliary ».
So if we mean, for example, the word « vice-president (of an assembly, a group or an association) », we will say :
副会長 . フクカイチョウ . the vice-president (of an assembly, a group or an association)(new word)
And if we mean, for example, the word « vice-president (of a company) », we will say :
副社長 . フクシャチョウ . the vice-president (of a company)(new word)
I give you four more words below. You already know the first two because I gave them to you in an exercise :
主 . シュ . the master, the mistress; the landlord, the landlady ; the owner
主人 . シュジン . the master, the mistress; the landlord, the landlady ; the owner
女主人 .おんなシュジン . the mistress, the landlady (new word)
女主 .おんなシュ . the mistress, the landlady (new word)
Note : these titles are very often used with the prefix of politeness 御 . ゴ (more often written ご) and the honorary suffix 様 . さま.
Finally, I remind you of the two very important words to be able to say « Mister / Sir » and « Madam » quite simply, with the prefix お and the honorary suffix さん :
伯父さん . おじさん → « Mister / Sir » (often written お父さん.)
伯母さん . おばさん → « Madam » (often written お母さん.)
I take this last lesson to give you some new words related to the family. These are the words « half-brother(s) » and « half-sister(s) » in the singular as well as in the plural. See below :
異母兄弟 . イボキョウダイ . half-brother(s), half-sister(s) (same father, different mothers)
異父兄弟 . イフキョウダイ . half-brother(s), half-sister(s) (same mother, different fathers)
異母姉妹 . イボシマイ . half-sister(s) (same father, different mothers)
異父姉妹 . イフシマイ . half-sister(s) (same mother, different fathers)
Of course, when half-brothers and half-sisters talk to each other or talk about each other to other people, they use the words お兄さん . おにいさん and お姉さん . おねえさん. It goes without saying.
Before I come to the conclusion, I will provide you with additional vocabulary to memorize, not to mention the new titles seen above. Be aware that most of these vocabulary words are likely to appear in the exercises.
幼稚園 . ヨウチエン . the kindergarten
保育園 . ホイクエン . the kindergarten
育児園 . イクジエン . the kindergarten
植物園 . ショクブツエン . the botanical garden
男子校 . ダンシコウ . the school for boys
女子校 . ジョシコウ . the school for girls
And a new lesson that ends. Still new words to learn. I don’t know if most of you find me way too picky about my lessons, but I prefer to tackle each of my lessons in great detail without leaving anything to chance. So, if you are looking for an explanation of a word, a kanji, an etymology, whatever it is, I want to be sure that you will find what you are looking for on my site.
And that’s the end of this second season too ! Yes finally ! Thank you all very much for following me this far, you can finally let go, take a deep breath and rest your brain. This is it, you made it… assuming you’ve done everything seriously. What more can I say except that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for following me throughout this second season.
It has been a long and trying journey so far, as I told you in your very first introductory course. I hope you have enjoyed studying and taking my classes throughout this season, I hope all of my classes have been specific and detailed enough, and if you have any questions, you can always ask them through my social networks on Twitter and others.
Before we start the third season, we’ll go through a review, to recap everything we’ve seen, and some vocabulary lessons so that you learn lots of new words. Thus, you will be ready for the third season where we will finally tackle the conjugation, the verbs, the negative form, the volitive form… It will be a very dense season, you will see !
And what would a course be without exercises ? Well, you have classes without exercises sometimes... but there are indeed exercises to do for this one. Theme and version, as always !
This course is now over, I thank you for reading it and I also thank you for being present throughout this second season. Continue to be diligent in your work, do not let go and you will make progress, I guarantee it.
Happy homework to everyone.
Introduction