What does nii-chan mean in Japanese?
We are going to uncover multiple ways of looking at the idea of nii-chan, as well as a discussion of family names, politeness, and name-enders.
It is an impressive meeting of several Japanese concepts.Let's start with the simple stuff.
There are two parts to the meaning of nii-chan, an honorific suffix and an older brother.It's a good way to refer to your brother.
The first definition is a familiar expression."The word you call your older brother" is what it says.
It wouldn't be used in all situations because it's a particularly endearing way of referring to your brother.
Different endings from chan would be used in situations where you would like to show more respect or frustration.We will get to that in a bit.
Something is added to our understanding by the second definition.You call a young man a word.Refers to young men who have been doing wrong.
The word is not completely local to the family.It can be used to scold a young guy who is acting out.
There are a lot of curse words in Japanese.To adjust your respect levels would be the way you would express anger.
By referring to a young man as chan, you may have emasculated him and put him in his place.
Referring to your older brother as o-nii-san is a neutral level of respect.It would be written like this.
It is attached to the front of words in Japanese as well as its counterpart pronunciation.
As we go forward with this article, keep that respectful "O" in mind, since you can attach it to almost every word we discuss today as a way of adding just a touch of respect.
The second kanji in this word can also be written.).
I want you to know that this kanji is pronounced differently depending on the word contained within.
It is ani when it is by itself.You could say an-chan when you want to call someonesonny.
It is pronounced kyou when it is part of the word for "siblings".It is also known as kei.It could be pronounced kono.
It is neither respectful nor disrespectful.It is proper.You would almost always refer to them as their family name.
You would want to be more friendly before removing the san, but perhaps that gives you an idea of the intent behind the word.
We will get into more name enders soon.We know another way to refer to our nii-chan.
On our way towards a full comprehension of nii-chan, let's expand the context of the concept and take a stroll through a few more words related to "big brother."
Big Brother is not like the Orwell character.A little different.
The concept of an elder brother is what we are talking about.You will see what I mean.
It is a word you would use to talk about your older brother to people outside of your family.
It indicated that one was the head of the family in those times.
This is a good way to keep in touch with your brother.
It is a friendly way to call your brother.It is a word used by non- family members to talk to boys who are older than them.
You might catch it in the wild if you keep your ears open.
The list goes on.There are many ways to talk about the idea of an elder brother.
Just like in English, you can get away with calling your brother a lot of things.
If you are talking about someone else's brother, you should use the full, respect-sandwiched o-nii-san.
Outside the family, some words for the older brother can be used.Nii-san is the most common.
It is a good way to refer to someone who is an older brother in your relationship, whether it is at work, school, or in a group of friends.
Since there is a blood relationship, you wouldn't call them ani-ue.You would be less likely to call them nii-chan if you were a younger girl.
Throwing that chan on the end hurts a lot of the respect you are laying out in the first place.
The older brother phrase can be heard in a couple of other words, but they are not spoken in the family.
ken-kei is not used often.It can be used with an actual relative, or with any wise senior.
They can be marked as an older brother type of person by attaching the kei to the end of their name.
There are two possible meanings to ani-bun, which is the last one I will cover.The first one is talking about a brother.
If your friend saves your life from the samurai forces of Oda Nobunaga, you want to seal your friendship as a family.
There is a specialized meaning that you will want to be careful with.The older man is in a same-sex relationship.
You know a lot about talking to and about your brother, but that is only going to get you so far.
There are some words that cover the younger counterpart in the sibling relationship.
We get the, pronounced otouto.You can talk nice to your little bro with a san on there.
It is a mouthful and not quite as cute as the nii.
We should say gutei if we want to speak in kenjougo.
The archaic counterpart to ani-ue would be otouto-gimi, if you want to play ninja and samurai with your kid brother.
teineigo, or "polite speech," is one of the types of speech which fall under the umbrella category of keigo.
Let's tackle the family as a whole for a more complete picture.If we want to talk about siblings in general, we will push the two brother kanji together to get, or kyou-dai.
We get nee-chan, which is almost like "NAY" or "NEIGH" in English.There is also ane-ue for our older sisters.
Just as you can call an older brother-figure your ani-san, you could do the same with an unrelated female in your life.
There is a flip of otouto and imouto.We get the same, reliable counterparts where we can mix and match.
If you want to speak to your mom, you would call her kaa-san, and if you wanted to talk about her, she would be your haha.
Your mama is also familiar to English-speaking ears, and you have also got your super-respectful, archaic haha-ue.
We have tou-san and chichi for when you are talking to your dad and talking about him.
You are as lost as I am, because you are wondering why Gohan's mom was called Chichi in Dragon Ball.There are also papa and chichi-ue.
All that is standing in the way of you and a quick slap to the head is a slightly abbreviated "A" sound.
The easiest way to be inoffensive is to emphasize the O in o-ba-san.Be careful out there!
I won't go into all the different name enders that are possible, that's a whole subject in itself.
You can add kun to someone's name or relationship term.It is necessary to speak endearingly to them without putting them down.
It is similar to san, but is much more casual and you wouldn't use it for someone of higher status than you.
There is sama.The big guns of respectability are this one.When speaking respectfully of someone, like customers, high superiors, or your own parents, you will use this.
If you said to your brother, all sarcastic, "Of course, your highness," you can use the respectful term sama to be very rude.
There is an overview of the meaning of nii-chan and its interplay with different uses and words.