Why Japanese people put chan san kun etc.?

Question

I was just wondering what is the definitions of chan, san, sama, sensai, senpai etc. ya know? I hope i spelled those right. lolz. If you could tell m a specific definition of some and if it is fine I owuld like to know the age limit you know? Like with kun you use on boys that are good friends about the ages of 12-20(if i got that right. I would also like ot know that thank you so much for your help!

Answer 1

those are called suffix

chan

basically for kids

boy = baby to about 2nd grader

girl = baby to about late 20s

but we use to adult male/female as nick name as well. (like 60s or 70s)

san

same as mr. mrs. miss. ms..etc

at least for 6 yrs old. coz they start going to school and teachers use 'san' to girls. ('kun' to boys at school)

sama

with high respect or for letter

so basically we use this to adult

menials/employees need to use 'sama' to president/master's family even s/he is kids. (presidents are called 'shachou' without sama) but really depends on the president. not for small company, firm and corporation of course.

i know couple of kids called with 'sama'.

sensei

teacher, politician, doc, lawyer..etc.

senpai

elder person (at school or work)

experienced person than you (at karate club or something like that)

Answer 2

They're called "honorifics".  The Japanese are very respectful people, they use these words when addressing friends, children, women, elder people, managers etc.

Not only the words, when a Japanese person gives you something (like a gift, diploma, money etc) they usually hand it to you with both hands. If you take it with one hand, it's a disrespectful behavior.

Check the link below for the meanings of the honorifics.

Answer 3

eg.

-San being polite (universal)

-Chan being friendly (esp. for girls)

-San showing respect for elders

-Kun being friendly (juniors)

Answer 4

-san is generally respectful.

-chan is intimate, applied to females and young boys generally.

-kun is intimate, used primarily on males but also occasionally with females.

-sama is very respectful and applied to those greatly superior.

-sensei is applied to those in teaching or scientific positions.

There are many more, but none so frequently used.

Answer 5

You put these on the ends of names

Chan-A friend/familiar girl

Kun-A familiar/friend boy

San-Someone who is married

Sama-Someone who is married

Sensei-Teacher