Re: addressing someone without -san or similar

From: Adam Atkinson (ghira_at_mistral.co.uk)
Date: 06/21/04 

Date: 21 Jun 2004 19:27:21 +0100

On 21-Jun-04 18:48:58, Mark Bradford said:

>If you're interested in the observations of someone who doesn't know as
>much Japanese as the other responders, but who has the advantage of
>having seen _Hikaru no Go_...

Absolutely.

>honorifics are omitted in situations of
>conscious insult, or great personal intimacy; in other words, where
>normal rules of politeness don't apply. Often (though not always)
>honorifics are omitted between siblings, or from parent to child.

I've not noticed what Hikaru's mother calls him. I'll listen out for
that next time I watch an episode.

>Second, a specific observation: Hikaru, as you've seen, is a very rude
>little boy. He uses rough speech (usually "ore" and "omae"), and calls
>other characters, not just Sai, by their names without honorifics. (And
>gets called simply 'Shindou' in return, by some of them.)

Ah, yes, he does this to e.g. Touya and Ochi, I believe. He uses
honorifics with his "friends", though, doesn't he? I guess a candidate
for "no honorific due to intimacy" would be Akari - I'll check for
that too.

>As for Sai, my guess is that either he sees himself in sort of a
>parental role to Hikaru, being his Go mentor, or it's because they're
>essentially thinking to one another. And it's hard to get more intimate
>than being haunter and haunted, I suppose.

OK, makes sense. 

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