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[CraigerGamer]

-san
Sempei
Sensai
-chan
-kun
Etc
Ect

I'm playing Persona 4 The Golden and I see a whole bunch of honorifics and I really don't know what to think of them. Do some show who is inherently the leader? Are they gender specific? Can one go from a -San to a -kun? Sometimes the honorific seems given out of respect, other times it's almost done to mock the person. I'd love to know more.

Spoiler

I know I could google all this but I thought I would get more subtle and specific answers asking GAF.

 

[Bob Coffee]

Ignore them, they have no place in a proper english localisation. Op-kun.

 

[John Kowalski]

Sempei means leader.

When Sempei notices you, she calls you kun.

Sempei never notices though. Even when you think she does, she doesn't truly. Sempei has a busy life.

 

[Lehow]

-san
Sempei
Sensai
-chan
-kun
Etc
Ect

I'm playing Persona 4 The Golden and I see a whole bunch of honorifics and I really don't know what to think of them. Do some show who is inherently the leader? Are they gender specific? Can one go from a -San to a -kun? Sometimes the honorific seems given out of respect, other times it's almost done to mock the person. I'd love to know more.

Spoiler

I know I could google all this but I thought I would get more subtle and specific answers asking GAF.

san = formal one, kinda like Mr.

Sensei - Master/teacher

chan - really, really close friend(usually female, but sometimes used with males) or referring to a small child

- kun close male friend

senpai - your veteran in an organization/school

kouhai - your junior in an organization/school

 

[hodgy100]

I give you all I know

 

[Linkark07]

-chan is usually used for kids or for girls.
-kun is for boys.
-san is genderless. It is a formal honorific.

This guide can help you understand more about Japanese honorifics.

And I have never understood why they keep honorifics on the Persona English dubs.

 

[Spaced Harrier]

Baja Gaijin, means learned foreigner. A high honour.

 

[pashmilla]

Sorry to rain on the joke parade, but for a serious answer...

-san = Mr/Mrs
-senpai = someone in a position of seniority over you (e.g. boss, upperclassman)
sensei - a teacher. also used for doctors and learned people basically.
-chan = a friendly/familiar suffix used usually for girls
-kun = a friendly/familiar suffix used usually for boys

 

[Joyful]

they exist to make you feel more japanese

like youre really the senpai

and they my kouhai

feels good

 

[Frozenprince]

-San is a common honorific usually used to impart respect towards an equal. It's a neutral honorific so you see it applied to everything and everyone. It's just a general way of being respectful to an acquaintance or a non-close friend. You'll see this one the most.

Senpai is an older classmate.

Sensei is teacher.

-Chan is a term of endearment, usually reserved for school aged kids or young women.

-Kun is a general equivalent for the male side.

-Sama is a respected elder.

The lack of Chi used in this thread disturbs me, bakaGAF.

 

[dan2026]

Refer to all you enemies as -chan to really piss them off.

 

[CraigerGamer]

I give you all I know

Now I'm even more confused.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Junior members should call regular members sempai

 

[Walpurgis]

 

[Frozenprince]

Junior members should call regular members sempai

I agree with this.

We must teach our wonderful Kouhai the way of the GAF.

 

[dan2026]

Also Dio-sama is always referred to as Dio-sama.

 

[John Kowalski]

Junior members should call regular members sempai

I wanna be the bancho.

 

[Frozenprince]

I wanna be the bancho.

Who are the GAF yankii?

 

[ramyeon]

Sorry to rain on the joke parade, but for a serious answer...

-san = Mr/Mrs
-senpai = someone in a position of seniority over you (e.g. boss, upperclassman)
sensei - a teacher. also used for doctors and learned people basically.
-chan = a friendly/familiar suffix used usually for girls
-kun = a friendly/familiar suffix used usually for boys

You don't call your boss Senpai.

 

[MudoSkills]

BTW, the correct pronunciation is 's-s-senpai'.

 

[John Kowalski]

Who are the GAF yankii?

Devo was our own sukeban.

 

[Tyrant Rave]

Baja Gaijin, means learned foreigner. A high honour.

My favorite flavor of Mountain dew is Baka Blast

 

[Frozenprince]

You don't call your boss Senpai.

Well you can if you wanna be fired/creepy.

 

[terrisus]

BTW, the correct pronunciation is 's-s-senpai'.

Ugu~

 

[Frozenprince]

Ugu~

 

[Replicant]

OP-chan kawaii yo!

Senpai, notice me please!

 

[FluxWaveZ]

I wonder if people ever have this conversation in Japan about "Mr.", "Miss.", "Mrs." and "Ms."

 

[terrisus]

I wonder if people ever have this conversation in Japan about "Mr.", "Miss.", "Mrs." and "Ms."

People have this conversation in the US about those as well.

P.S. "Miss" doesn't generally have a period after it, despite being a shortened version of "Mistress"

 

[massoluk]

Don't you ever use these in actual translation work. Leave their useages to weeb.

 

[sprsk]

Sorry to rain on the joke parade, but for a serious answer...

-san = Mr/Mrs
-senpai = someone in a position of seniority over you (e.g. boss, upperclassman)
sensei - a teacher. also used for doctors and learned people basically.
-chan = a friendly/familiar suffix used usually for girls
-kun = a friendly/familiar suffix used usually for boys

This is correct. And just to clarify, since a lot of folks seem to miss this one--girls can be called -kun as well (usually in the workplace by people higher in the food chain structurally).

Also i would argue depending on circumstances, you could call a boss a sempai, but usually you dont.

 

[Frozenprince]

I wonder if people ever have this conversation in Japan about "Mr.", "Miss.", "Mrs." and "Ms."

I was called "sir" as an honorific a couple times.

That was neat.

 

[dan2026]

'Ore no kami ga nandatte!'

'That gentleman made a disparaging remark about my hairstyle. I will box his ears!'

Learn these OP, it could save your life.

 

[CraigerGamer]

So this would be correct?

Chie-San is GOAT. Is the -San capitalized?

 

[MudoSkills]

People are going to ignore whether or not you've used the correct honorific and instead turn this into a 'best girl' discussion.

You made this happen.

 

[Walpurgis]

Here are some more educational examples on the use of "-chan" and "-sama" OP.

In this scenario, Romney-sama is using the suffix "-chan" on Obama as a way to show his endearment. Obama-chan replies to him using "-sama" as a way to show his respect. From this, we can glean that Romney fills the dominant role in this relationship. As you can see, this is much more deep and complex than English honourifics.

 

[Frozenprince]

So this would be correct?

Chie-San is GOAT. Is the -San capitalized?

Yes, honorifics are capitalized. Just like Mr/Mrs

And it's usually Chie-Chan. (well Satonaka-San/Chan but naming conventions and all that).

 

[John Kowalski]

So this would be correct?

Chie-San is GOAT. Is the -San capitalized?

No.

Yukiko is.

 

[MudoSkills]

No.

Yukiko is.

See. I told you.

 

[hodgy100]

Now I'm even more confused.

 

[RustedPieces]

Japanese Horrorflix

 

[MudoSkills]

 

[CraigerGamer]

Yes, honorifics are capitalized. Just like Mr/Mrs

And it's usually Chie-Chan. (well Satonaka-San/Chan but naming conventions and all that).

Ah. Got it. That would make more sense.

 

[ramyeon]

Yes, honorifics are capitalized. Just like Mr/Mrs

And it's usually Chie-Chan. (well Satonaka-San/Chan but naming conventions and all that).

I mean it really doesn't matter whether you capitalise Japanese honorifics or not since Japanese doesn't use a roman alphabet to begin with.

 

[terrisus]

Here are some more educational examples on the use of "-chan" and "-sama" OP.

In this scenario, Romney-sama is using the suffix "-chan" on Obama as a way to show his endearment. Obama-chan replies to him using "-sama" as a way to show his respect. From this, we can glean that Romney fills the dominant role in this relationship. As you can see, this is much more deep and complex than English honourifics.

I've seen plenty of variations on this, but this is probably the most adorable one I've seen.

Also, good job on proper English spelling of "honourifics"

 

[Sai-kun]

Hi :3

 

[hodgy100]

 

[Haly]

Senpai sharks? Senpai sharks.

http://fat.gfycat.com/GlossySmallBlacklemur.webm

 

[Darksol]

I mean it really doesn't matter whether you capitalise Japanese honorifics or not since Japanese doesn't use a roman alphabet to begin with.

^ This.

Anyone with enough time to argue the semantics of romanization can probably afford the couple days it'd take to learn the kana

 

[terrisus]

Hi :3

Sai-kun-senpai :3

 

[firehawk12]

What about -nyan?