Quick Japanese Vocabulary Chart demonstrating humble and exalted forms for family related terms for those serious in making Japanese their SL2.
Family words Humble –when speaking of ones own, of oneself Exalted – when inquiring of others
Father chichi - 父 (ちち) o-to^san (long o) - お父さん(おとうさん)
Mother haha - 母 (はは) o-ka^san (long a) - お母さん (おかあさん)
Older Brother ani - 兄 (あに) o-ni^san (long i) - お兄さん(おにいさん)
Younger Brother oto^to - 弟 (おとうと) o-to^tosan - 弟さん (おとうとさん)
Older Sister ane –
姉 (あね) o-ne^san (long e) - 姉 (あね)
Younger Sister imo^to –
妹 ( いもうと) imo^tosan (long o) 妹さん (いもうとさん)
Parents ryo^shin (long o) –
両親 (りょうしん) go-ryoshin (long o) - 御両親 (ごりょうしん)
Husband shujin (lit. my lord) -主人 (しゅじん) go-shujin 御-主人(しゅじん)
Wife kanai – (lit. inside the house)
家内 (かない) okusama, or less exalted okusan - (lit. the person in the far back) 奥さん (おくさん) but still polite and most commonly used as with any word in this column, the suffix san can be exchanged for sama in any case Sama being more honorific.
Also frequently heard is the term for husband or danna. Dannasan or dannasama being the exalted forms.
For other various Japanese language learning needs, see the following websites
http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar
http://squidoo.com/japanesevocabularyindex
http://saketalkie.blogspot.com
http://squidoo.com/japanese1
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki Sensei
