Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
but i like the idea of affectionate or honorific endings (i like to call people chéri(e) in daily life too, in a vaguely ironic (because the beauty of "chéri" is that it's simultaneously sweet and just a bit ringard...) but still affectionate way...), so i'm going to try to remember these. don't be surprised if i start calling people "nekokami-chan" and "taylor-chan" (i know, i know : not usually for boys... i don't care.)
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You may feel free to call me "nekokami-chan" or even "neko-chan" if you prefer.
(Or chérie, for that matter.)
Yes, there are completely different levels of grammar used in Japanese, including different verb forms and even different verbs, depending on the relative status of the two speakers. There's a separate word used for "I" depending on whether the speaker is male or female, or subservient. (Men can use "boku" but women would use "watashi" or "watakushi".) The difference between "vous" and "tu" is somewhat similar, but there are more levels and shadings in Japanese, I think. This makes it extremely hard to translate speech to English, because there are so many shorthands for social levels embedded into the speech. Does the translator leave them out, because they don't equate to anything in English, or leave them in Japanese (my preference, actually), or resort to silly constructions like "honorable tea"? (Yes, there is an honorific prefix, o-, and yes, it is customarily used before tea, but only green tea!)