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<blockquote data-quote="Xeriar" data-source="post: 856584" data-attributes="member: 4116">People are addressed by their family name in formal settings, appended by rank.&nbsp; So, say you have Usagi Katsumi, a pretty little Japanese lady.In a formal setting, she would be addressed&quot;Usagi-sama&quot; by an inferior, or someone wishing to show her (great) respect.&quot;Usagi-san&quot; by an equal&quot;Usagi-chan&quot; while she was a child, or is acting like one (in Learning to Bow this insult gets used on one student by another for this reason)Just plain Usagi is fine after awhile, in frequent speech, though never giving someone respect can be taken as an insult.If there are more Usagi's present, they will use her full name.In an informal setting, her family name is used while she is a 'stranger' until they know eachother better, then personal names may be used.&quot;-kun&quot; is a diminuative suffix, no longer used in formal speech.&nbsp; I would imagine it to be rather insulting.&quot;-chan&quot; is basically, calling someone a kid.Calling people 'san' and 'sama' all the time in an informal setting is rather awkward, though there are rare types that do, according to my teacher, anyway.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Xeriar, post: 856584, member: 4116"] People are addressed by their family name in formal settings, appended by rank. So, say you have Usagi Katsumi, a pretty little Japanese lady. In a formal setting, she would be addressed "Usagi-sama" by an inferior, or someone wishing to show her (great) respect. "Usagi-san" by an equal "Usagi-chan" while she was a child, or is acting like one (in Learning to Bow this insult gets used on one student by another for this reason) Just plain Usagi is fine after awhile, in frequent speech, though never giving someone respect can be taken as an insult. If there are more Usagi's present, they will use her full name. In an informal setting, her family name is used while she is a 'stranger' until they know eachother better, then personal names may be used. "-kun" is a diminuative suffix, no longer used in formal speech. I would imagine it to be rather insulting. "-chan" is basically, calling someone a kid. Calling people 'san' and 'sama' all the time in an informal setting is rather awkward, though there are rare types that do, according to my teacher, anyway. [/QUOTE]

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