Honorifics

Honorifics are useful in serving as a way to convey esteem, familiarity, social status, and more nuanced feelings from the speaker to the person they are either adressing or referring to.

Honorifics are used in the Star Army of Yamatai and elsewhere, especially by those that speak Yamataigo (邪馬台語) to denote different levels of hierarchy, friendship, age, gender, and respect.

Typically, honorifics are suffixes that come after the given name and surname. When written in Trade, the proper noun is linked to the suffix with a hyphen.

In the above example, the suffix is left uncapitalized because it is not a formal title (older sister). Titles should be capitalized, but some (most often hime) are given inconsistent treatment.

Occasionally, honorifics stand in for names.

In this example, hime is capitalized and used as a proper title, followed by the correct, uncapitalized honorific to convey deep respect. People who speak only Trade might find the construct overly complex, but to use a title without an honorific, or a different honorific, conveys a different meaning.

An exception to the rule is military ranks. They always should be capitalized after following a name, given or sur, and linked with a hyphen.

Officer ranks also can be used as standalone proper nouns. …

… While enlisted ranks sometimes are given the generic honorific “san” by an officer or superior. The meaning behind the usage varies, but most often is used as a respectful way of referring to an unfamiliar soldier.

For more information on naming schemes, see Nekovalkyrja Names. For a little more nuance on honorifics in general, see Yamataian Culture - honorifics.

The list below contains the most common non-rank honorifics used in Yamataigo. Those that are italicized historically are acceptable be used as proper nouns. Those italicized and bolded have been known to be combined with other honorifics, usually “san” or “sama.”

• Chama: Used to refer to somebody that is considered a young master.
• Chan: Familiarity and friendship are what classify this honorific and are used quite often on those younger than the speaker.

• Denka: His or her Highness or the Emperor or Empress.
• Dono: When used, this honorific shows a degree of personal emotion as well as respect and admiration.
• Heika: Used for royal family members.
• Hime: Used to address a princess.

• Jou: Young, often rich girls are referred to as this.
• Kimi: Used among friends.
• Ko: Used entirely to females and between two of them, most often, or from a male to a female if there is a level of familiarity between the two.
• Kōhai: A protégé or junior to the speaker.
• Kun: Used almost exclusively on young males, it is coupled with the given name only and in casual conversation, usually between one male to another.
• Kyou: A lord, lady, or dame.
• Nee: Older sister.
• Nii: Older brother.
• Omae: Used to refer down to somebody, generally used by masculine personalities to someone below them.
• Ouji: An honorific used to describe a prince.
• Sa: Used when a husband is being referred to.
• Sama: When referring to someone with a deep respect, one would use this honorific.
• San: Used in both cases of familiarity and unfamiliarity, this is used to denote a certain amount of formality.
• Senpai: Someone of older age, a mentor, or someone that the speaker would like to be noticed by

• Sensei: Used on teachers, famous people, and doctors, alike, this honorific is used on those in higher positions than the speaker.
• Shi: Mostly used for professionals.
• Shihan: The masters at a specific craft, trade, or skill.
• Tan: Slang for “-chan”.

Ametheliana created this article on 2016/10/22 13:44.