Learn about Japanese honorifics
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Intro |
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| Michael: Does Japanese have honorifics? |
| Risa: And how do you speak politely in Japanese? |
| Michael: At JapanesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Karen Lee is shopping for groceries at her customary food stand. She is chatting with the foodstand clerk, who asks |
| "How is your husband doing?" |
| Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| Dialogue |
| Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| Karen Lee: はい、おかげさまで。奥さんはいかがですか。 (Hai, okage-sama de. Okusan wa ikaga desu ka.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| Michael: "How is your husband doing?" |
| Karen Lee: はい、おかげさまで。奥さんはいかがですか。 (Hai, okage-sama de. Okusan wa ikaga desu ka.) |
| Michael: "[He is] fine, thank you. How is your wife doing?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: About every language in the world has a set code used to show respect and acknowledge others' positions and Japanese is no exception. These tools are often referred to as honorifics though the term can be understood in two ways. In the broader sense, honorifics may be used to denote any manner in which the speaker can show respect to the listener and acknowledge their status. However, in this lesson, we will treat honorifics in the narrow sense of the term, as a set of titles, suffixes, and prefixes used to convey respect for position or rank when addressing the listener or someone from their inner circle. So, how can we address people in Japanese? |
| As you may already know, when speaking Japanese, you almost never address someone by using the word "you" or |
| Risa: あなた (anata) |
| Michael: which is perceived to be too direct and intimate. Instead, you usually address people by their name followed by a suffix such as |
| Risa: さん (san) |
| Michael: This is the most common name suffix, which we can attach to either the first name or the surname, but it’s more common to use the latter. It is similar to "Mr.," "Mrs.," or "Ms." in English; however, it is used much more often, even between and towards children and friends. Let's hear an example: |
| Risa: 田中さん (Tanaka-san) |
| Michael: This is how to politely address someone whose surname is Tanaka. |
| There are different suffixes you can use to address someone, depending on the context. For example, in a business setting, instead of less formal |
| Risa: さん (san) |
| Michael: you may use the person's work title. Let's imagine that Mr. Tanaka is your "department manager" |
| Risa: 部長 (buchō) |
| Michael: When addressing Mr. Tanaka, you should acknowledge his position by attaching this title to his name, like in |
| Risa: 田中部長 (Tanaka-buchō) |
| Michael: When using honorifics, you should always keep in mind the logic of the ingroup versus the outgroup. This means that, when interacting with others, you always have to show respect towards someone who is not part of your group, and, at the same time, you have to keep you and your group at a lower level, as we explained in the lessons about the levels of formality. Now, let's see other common honorific suffixes. The next one is |
| Risa: ちゃん (chan) |
| Michael: This one is used mostly to address girls and young children. It expresses affection and friendliness. Often, female friends who are the same age use it when calling one another, and men can use it to address their female friends of the same age or younger. The next suffix is |
| Risa: くん (kun) |
| Michael: This one is used often to address boys or young men that the speaker is close to or socially superior to, for example at the office. Finally, when you want to be very polite, you can use |
| Risa: さま (sama) |
| Michael: which is often used when referring to or addressing a customer by either adding it to their surname or simply to the word meaning “customer” in Japanese. For example, you may hear |
| Risa: お客さま、こちらへどうぞ。(O-kyaku-sama, kochira e dōzo.) |
| Michael: which means something like "Dear customer, please, come this way." |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's now take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how the food-stand clerk asks "How is your husband doing?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Risa as Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| Michael: Here, the clerk is talking about his regular costumer's husband whom he refers to as |
| Risa: ご主人 (go-shujin) |
| Michael: which is the polite way to refer to someone else's husband. This word is made of the polite prefix |
| Risa: ご (go) |
| Michael: and the word for "husband” |
| Risa: 主人 (shujin) |
| Michael: When referring to one's husband, instead you should say |
| Risa: 主人 (shujin) or 旦那 (danna) |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Karen answers "He is fine, thank you. How is your wife doing?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Risa as Karen Lee: はい、おかげさまで。奥さんはいかがですか。 (Hai, okage-sama de. Okusan wa ikaga desu ka.) |
| Michael: As a reply, Karen asks the food stand clerk about his wife, and she says |
| Risa: 奥さん (okusan) |
| Michael: which is the polite way to refer to someone else's wife, no matter what their social or business position is. When referring to one's wife, you should say |
| Risa: 家内 (kanai) or 妻 (tsuma) |
| Michael: A similar rule applies to other nouns referring to family members. |
| Michael: In this dialogue, both the clerk and Karen are using the "polite speech" or |
| Risa: 丁寧語 (teinei-go) |
| Michael: The "polite speech" involves using verbs in their polite form, which is known as the |
| Risa: masu form |
| Michael: It also includes the polite copula |
| Risa: です (desu) |
| Michael: You can use polite speech in almost every situation. It’s perfect with strangers or people who you don't know very well. You can use it also when speaking to your friends, depending on the closeness of the relationship and also your own personality. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned what honorifics are, and that using them correctly, along with the right formality level, is important to show respect towards your interlocutor. Let's hear a couple more examples. |
| Risa: カレンさんはアメリカじんですか。(Karen-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka.) |
| Michael: This literally means “Is Karen American?” but, depending on the context, it can translate to “Are you American?” This is because, as we saw, you never address someone directly as “you,” but you usually have to address them by their name followed by an honorific suffix. Here is another example: |
| Risa: 田中部長、手伝いましょうか。(Tanaka-buchō, tetsudaimashō ka.) |
| Michael: This literally means “The manager Tanaka, shall I help you?” but translates as “Mr. Tanaka, shall I help you?” This is because, in a work environment, titles can also be used as honorific suffixes, to address seniors. |
| Practice |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Risa focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how the food stand clerk says "How is your husband doing?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Risa as Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Risa as Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Risa as Yuya Yamaguchi: ご主人はお元気ですか。 (Go-shujin wa o-genki desu ka.) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Karen answers "[He is] fine, thank you. How is your wife doing?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Risa as Karen Lee: はい、おかげさまで。奥さんはいかがですか。 (Hai, okage-sama de. Okusan wa ikaga desu ka.) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Risa as Karen Lee: はい、おかげさまで。奥さんはいかがですか。 (Hai, okage-sama de. Okusan wa ikaga desu ka.) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Risa as Karen Lee: はい、おかげさまで。奥さんはいかがですか。 (Hai, okage-sama de. Okusan wa ikaga desu ka.) |
| Expansion |
| Michael: As you may already know, in Japan, elders are highly respected. This is because those who were born earlier have more experience and can teach other people. For example, the word "teacher" |
| Risa: 先生 (sensei) |
| Michael: literally means “born before.” This seniority system starts at school, and students refer to their older friends as “seniors” or |
| Risa: 先輩 (senpai) |
| Michael: Let's hear an example sentence |
| Risa: 先輩は本当に付き合いやすい人ですね。(Senpai wa hontō ni tsukiai yasui hito desu ne.) |
| Michael: which means "You're really easy to get along with." This sentence would be used by a younger student talking to an older one. This applies even if there is only a one year difference. You can find the same system also in the business world, where people with more years of experience can be called “seniors." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Risa: またね！ (Mata ne!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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