Can someone explain to me why people add Japanese name suffixes to their own name?
People in Japan don't do it, so why do non-Japanese people do it? I can't think of an English equivalent of '-chan' since that's the most commonly used name suffix by people who add it to their own names, but using '-san,' it's like calling yourself Mr. Frodo. (sorry for the bad joke, I came across Lord of the Rings the other day while channel surfing).
And when it comes to name suffixes, people decide what to call you depending on what kind of relationship you have with them, unless you explicitly tell them to just call you by your name, meaning your name itself, not with any added suffix. It's like calling your professor Professor Vera who's cool enough to let anyone call her by their first name and tells their students to do so.
It's nuances in Japanese culture and language like this that I wish were explained on websites that teach basic Japanese that are producing these misled people, commonly known as weeaboos.
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2 comments:
I wrote a long comment.... and then
it apparently got EATEN.
Anyway, I completely agree with this. I would never call myself Miss Sara. It's awkward.
The only time I have used suffixes (with other people) have been with my Japanese friends. Because they called me Sarachan, I responded with Shokochan, etc.
The only time I'd do something like call myself "Miss Jerusha" (wow, that sounds weird) would be if I were doing something like teaching a theatre class for little kids. XD
That said, I don't really use suffixes, unless I'm in Japanese class or something like that, and sensei expects it.
...I think my nametag at work might refer to me as Jerusha-chan...One of my friends who knew I was taking Japanese, and sort of knows katakana, stole it and wrote it on there... Unless I covered that up with random doodles. I'll hat to check at work tomorrow.XD
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