As with non-family, instead of personal pronouns other forms of address/
reference are frequently used (see 5.3).
An important distinction in use depends on whether one is addressing others, or referring to them.
When referring to others, an ingroup–outgroup distinction is also applied.
This distinction requires that, towards outgroup listeners, members of one’s own group are referred to without hon. pref. (o-/go-) and/or personal suf.
(-san/-sama, etc.), as in examples 2 b, d, f and h–j. However, note the use of the words for mother/father(o-)tisan/chan/(o-)kfsan/chan, and also papa/mama, by parents towards their children like first-person personal pronouns (example 2 c), where this rule does not apply. Wives/husbands also commonly use (o-)tisan/(o-)kfsan and variants to refer to their marriage partners (example 2 a). Also, children need to learn the address/
reference distinction, and often fail to distinguish them (example 2 g) (see 5.3).
The choice between o- and go- depends on whether the word the prefix is attached to is Native-Japanese or Sino-Japanese vocabulary (see 1.1).
Exceptions include o-jisan and o-bot-chan.
Where names are used for addressing, the general rule is to attach -san, etc. for seniors, and nothing (except for intimate children, etc., -chan/-kun) for those junior to the speaker.
Note 1 – older-generation husbands also use oi (‘say’, ‘hey’) to address their wives (example 2 l), and wives (or girlfriends) often use ng (‘I say’) towards their husband (boyfriend), in a variety of intonations (example a).
•
14 1 Nouns
a 「ねえ、入るんならこっちのホテルがいいな」。平日の午後 七時、連れの男性と腕を組んでいた若い女の子が嬌声
（きょうせい）をあげた。
‘Nl, hairu n nara kotchi no hoteru ga ii na’. Heijitsu no gogo shichi-ji, tsure no dansei to ude o kunde ita wakai onna no ko ga kynsei o ageta.
‘Look, if we go to [a love hotel], then I’d like this one’. Around 7 p.m.
on a weekday, a young girl who had been walking arm in arm with her male companion, raised her voice coquettishly.
Note 2 – when there is no need to make the in-/outgroup distinction or to use honorifics, as in narrative text or when referring to historical or fictional figures, the terms in the first column in Table 1.1 (but not the ones in brackets) are used, excepting the words for husband and wife, where only tsuma and otto are normally used, although depending on such situational factors as the speaker–listener relationship, formality, etc., the terms in the last columns are also used (example 2 a).
1.4.1 Family address
a お父さん、お母さん、長い間ありがとうございました。
Otnsan, okksan, nagai aida arigatn gozaimashita.
Father, mother, thank you for all [you’ve done] all these years.
b なあオヤジ、早〱隠居しなよ。
Nk oyaji, hayaku inkyo shi na yo.
Come on, dad, retire soon, will you.
c おふ〱ろ、死ぬなよ。
Ofukuro, shinu na yo.
Mum, don’t die!
1.4.2 Family reference
a 今夜はお父さん帰ってこないの。
Konya wa otnsan kaette konai no.
Tonight hubby’s not coming home.
b 「父は解剖学の偉大な先生だった」という。
‘Chichi wa kaibngaku no idai na sensei datta’ to iu.
She says ‘Father was an eminent anatomist’.
15 Personal nouns:
addressing family and others c どんなことがあっても、お父さんとお母さんは守ってやる。
Donna koto ga atte mo, otnsan to okksan wa mamotte yaru.
No matter what happens, daddy and mummy will protect you.
d 親父の墓には既におふ〱ろが入っている。
Oyaji no haka ni wa sude ni ofukuro ga haitte iru.
Mum is already interred in dad’s grave.
e おふ〱ろに花束を!
Ofukuro ni hanataba o!
Flowers for mum!
f •••男子生徒が「おふ〱ろに教えてやろう」と喜んでいた。
. . . danshi seito ga ‘Ofukuro ni oshiete yarn’ to yorokonde ita.
. . . a male pupil rejoiced, saying ‘I’ll tell mum [that the nutritional value of spinach is in the roots]’.
g 「もう少ししたら、シベリアのおばあさんの所に行〱」という。
‘Mn sukoshi shitara, Shiberia no obksan no tokoro ni iku’ to iu.
‘Soon, I’ll go to my grandmother’s place in Siberia’, he said.
h 昨年、主人と離婚しました。
Sakunen, shujin to rikon shimashita.
Last year, I got divorced from my husband.
i •••家内と一緒に住むつもりです。
. . . kanai to issho ni sumu tsumori desu.
I intend to live [there = in the official residence] with my wife.
j 家族を食わせないといけないし。
Kazoku o kuwasenai to ikenai shi.
I also need to feed my family.
k 奥さんがご主人の会社の車で買い物に行〱などというのも、さほ ど珍しいことではなかった。
Oku-san ga go-shujin no kaisha no kuruma de kaimono ni iku nado to iu no mo, sahodo mezurashii koto de wa nakatta.
It wasn’t that unusual [in the old days] for the wife to go out shopping in the husband’s company car.
l 「おい、仕事で疲れているんだから早〱なんとかして〱れよ」——、
幼い我が子がむずかると夫が妻に文句を言う。
‘Oi, shigoto de tsukarete iru n da kara hayaku nan to ka shite kure yo’ --, osanai waga ko ga muzukaru to otto ga tsuma ni monku o iu.
‘Hey, I’m tired from work, so do something about him right away’, the husband complains to the wife when their little son gets fretful.
16 1 Nouns
Table 1.1 Address forms: family
Relation Speaker’s family
Addressing Listener/third person’s family
Referring Referring
(my . . .) (your . . . ,
someone else’s . . .)
family 家族 — ご家族
kazoku — go-kazoku
parents 両親 — ご両親
rynshin — go-rynshin
father 父、おやじ • 親父 (お)父さん* お父さん
chichi (oyaji) おやじ•親 父(さん)
o-tn-san (o-)tnsan*,
oyaji(-san) パパ
papa, dad(dy)
mother 母、おふ〱ろ (お)母さん* お母さん
haha (ofukuro) (o-)kk-san* o-kk-san おふ〱ろさん
ofukuro-san ママ、マミ一 mama, mamm
older brother 兄 (お)兄さん* お兄さん
ani (o-)niisan* o-niisan*
older sister 姉 (お)姉さん* お姉さん
ane (o-)nlsan* o-nlsan*
younger brother 弟 (name) 弟さん
otnto (name) otnto-san
younger sister 妹 (name) 妹さん
imnto (name) imnto-san
brothers 兄弟 — ご兄弟
(& sisters) kyndai — go-kyndai
sisters 姉妹 — 姉妹
shimai — go-shimai
child(ren) 子ども (name) お子さん
kodomo (name) o-ko-san
son(s) 息子、倅 (name) 息子さん、
お坊ちゃん musuko (segare) (name)
musuko-san, (o-)bot-chan
17 Personal nouns:
addressing family and others Relation Speaker’s
family
Addressing Listener/third person’s family
Referring Referring
(my . . .) (your . . . ,
someone else’s . . .)
daughter(s) 娘 (name) 娘さん、お嬢さん
musume (name) musume-san,
o-jnsan*
grandfather 祖父 (お)じいさん* おじいさん
sofu (jm-san) (o-) jm-san* o-jm-san
grandmother 祖母 (お)ばあさん* おばあさん
sobo (bk-san) (o-) bk-san* o-bk-san
grandchild 孫 (name) お孫さん
mago (name) o-mago-san
uncle 叔父 • 伯父 おじさん* おじさん
oji o-ji-san* o-ji-san
aunt 叔母•伯母 おばさん* おばさん
oba o-ba-san* o-ba-san
cousin いとこ (name) (お)いとこさん
itoko (name) (o-)itoko-san
nephew 甥 (name) 甥ごさん
oi (name) oi-go-san
niece 姪 (name) 姪ごさん
mei (name) mei-go-san
husband 主人、旦那、
夫、ハズ、
ダーリン
あなた、ねえ、
お父さん、
パパ、
ご主人、だんなさん* go-shujin,
danna-san*
shujin (danna, otto, hazu, dkrin)
anata, otnsan, papa
surname name
wife 家内、ワイフ、母 さん、妻、女房
おい、お母さ ん、ママ、
奥さん* oku-san*
kanai (waifu, kksan, tsuma, nynbn)
o-kksan, mama
Note *-chan often replaces -san when referring to others’ children, and when children address their kin. Instead of -san, the superpolite -sama can be used for reference to others’ kin.
Some of the above forms, such as oyaji and ofukuro, are only used by men in informal contexts.
Table 1.1 (cont’d)
18 1
Nouns 1.4.3 Non-family address
Where a title (sensei ‘teacher’, ‘MP’, or daijin ‘government minister’) can be used, names are often avoided. Where names are used, suffixes like -sama, -san, -kun and -chan are usually attached.
a このことについての大臣の考えは。
Kono koto ni tsuite no daijin no kangae wa.
What are your [= the minister’s] thoughts on this?
b 先生、こんなに暑〱ては授業できないよ。打ち切ろうよ！
Sensei, konna ni atsukute wa jugyn dekinai yo. Uchikirn yo!
Sir, if it’s this hot we can’t have classes! Let’s finish!
c キャディーさん、こっちへ寄って。
Kyadm-san, kotchi e yotte.
Caddy, come over here.
d A君もぜひ遊びに来て下さい。