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What does Chan and Kun etc mean in Japanese?

Chan, sempai, kun, sama etc, what do they mean?

  • what do all the endings mean? Like "Nagisa-chan" but someone else might call her "Nagisa-sama" etc etc why is it diff for some people and are characters sgenerally called by their ...show more

  • Answer:

    Chan- An honorific usually used with very young boys or girls, denotes a young female usually. Sempai- An upper-classman or more experienced person in your field. Sama- Person of great importance usually used when talking to someone you look up to or someone like a doctor or someone of nobility (nobility can also be dono which is sort of like a step up from sama) Kun- denotes boy-like cuteness, usually used by a female character when talking to a person she likes. Sensei- Used when talking to a teacher or professor. San- Used when talking to someone you have just met or are not good friends with, han is also a form of san but is used only in certain parts of Japan (Nippon in Japanese :D) There are variants for all of these, like a different form of Kun is Bozu with usually means something more like "brat." For more info on Japanese honorifics check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Shi Characters who call other by their last name either prefer to do so or do not feel they are close enough to that person to call them by their first name. If it different for some people because of the different relationships the person may have with different people. Have a nice one ^ ^

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They're called honorifics are polite ways to address other people in Japan. To not have an honorific attached to your name usually means the one addressing you is an intimate friend or family member; anyone other than that to address you that way would be considered very rude. chan- used to express endearment towards girls usually. Also used for little boys, pets, and even lovers. sempai- used to address one's senior in a group, like a student addressing an upper-classmen. kun- used to address boys of familiarity or endearment sama- used to address those for whom you have great respect san- one of the most common honorifics, it's basically Mr. or Ms. in Japanese These are some of the most common ones I know of, BTW this is all knowledge obtained from watching anime, so forgive me if I'm a bit off.

Hells Pastry

well, what you end a persons name with will all depend on your relationship with that person. I know "sempai" would be "teacher" or someone of higher rank than you, I THINK "chan" at the end means something like, "aquaintence" or a friend you arent all that close too. this one i am the least sure of but i think maybe "kun" mean something like "one close to me" or someone you hold dear that isnt family

Furious with America

The endings are just a way to show a persons status in society and calling someone by their last name is formal and usually done to strangers (if you call someone by their first name in japanese culture you're fairly close) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics Some can be just for looks or a cute expression though.

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