Talk:Japanese name suffices

Notes to editors: Yeah, "suffices" is the plural of "suffix". I wonder how many people don't know that...

I found that I couldn't write about the characters without mentioning these (and not have it feel like an "omission"). Hence, we should just have one big page that explains all of them, to which any mention of these suffices in the encyclopedia could link.

This page will provide coverage of various things we see attached to people's names in NGE. This includes the usual stuff, like -san, -kun, -chan, and -sama ("Misato-sama", LOL), and, of course, -sensei and -sen/mpai are fine too (need to agree on which romaji to use for the latter). If we feel like it, we can go into title-specific things, like -hakase (Dr., as in Ph.D.), -shirei (Commander), -sansa (Captain), and so on. Be ejimicational.

Please cite your sources (which can include actually citing them if it's for more specific tidbits or just including them as general refs at the end). And, as always, Wikipedia Is Not A Reference.

"Category 1, 2, 3" are there because I couldn't think of appropriate descriptions at the time... Also not entirely sure what the right category for this article would be. --Reichu 11:31, 24 August 2007 (EDT)

I would create a new category for articles like this called "Cultural".

I would go with "sempai" because that is the standard transliteration, but explain that "senpai" is the literal transliteration, but is phonetically rendered "sempai".

Even though it's not used (I believe) in Evangelion, you should go ahead and include -dono, and explain that it's a little archaic. --thewayneiac Aug. 24, 2007 11:42 EDT.

1. As stated in the (unfinished) Standards and Conventions, we should never casually use Japanese suffices and honorifics unless directly quoting a line of dialogue from the script. This should only be if you're pointing out something particularly notable (i.e. in EoE when Gendo calls Fuyutsuki "Sensei" but he means "professor", etc.)
2. I think this should be moved to a broader "Japanese terminology and culture" section of sorts, explaining specific things that appear in the show which North American audiences might not get; and on that article "Japanese honorifics" would be a major subsection. --V 13:21, 24 August 2007 (EDT)