Re: addressing someone without -san or similar

From: Sean Holland (seanholland_at_pants.telus.net)
Date: 06/21/04 

Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 15:12:15 GMT

in article 1nodd0llbd88ccla0541v9m528qq0e0qo5@4ax.com, Michael Cash at
REMOVEmikecashCAPS@sunfield.ne.jp wrote on 6/21/04 6:50 AM:

> On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 12:23:10 +0000 (UTC), "Adam Atkinson"
> <ghira@mistral.co.uk> brought down from the Mount tablets inscribed:
>
>> "Michael Cash" <REMOVEmikecashCAPS@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message
>> news:1lidd0dpev4s6odroigrhdubpqjm3j3j2k@4ax.com
>>
>>>> As for the conversations between
>>>> Sai and Hikaru, I had guessed it might be because they were
>>>> friends, but even the kids in the show who are friends
>>>> always seem to call each other "-kun" or "-chan" so I'm not
>>>> quite sure that's it,
>>>
>>> The former is <generalization> less formal than "-san"
>>> </generalization> so in many/most cases it doesn't carry the same
>>> degree of formality, so you might flip the coin over on the other side
>>> and say that it carries a greater degree of intimacy, so it wouldn't
>>> be out of place for friends to use. The latter is <generalization>
>>> devoid of formality and carries a strong sense of intimacy
>>> </generalization>. It is a "baby talk" sort of pronunciation of
>>> "-san", if I understand it correctly.
>>
>> What about no suffix at all?
>
> That is one of the options. If you haven't figured it out by now, you
> no doubt will in the near future; all this interpersonal stuff can
> give the Japanese learner conniption fits.
>
> "What pronoun (if any) should I use for Person A in Situation X?"
> "What pronoun (if any) should I use for myself in Situation Y?"
> "What honorific (in any) should I use?"
> "Which giving/receiving verb is appropriate for Situation Z?"
> "Even if it's Person B doing it for Person C who isn't there?"
>
> Et cetera e pluribus unum ipso facto hibiscus carborundum.
>
> Some days it don't pay to get out of bed, ya know?
(snip)

It gives some of us foreigners the charming habit of constantly shifting the
level of formality of our speech, driving our Japanese interlocutors around
the bend. 

---
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