What is the difference between using an "o" sound and not using an "o" sound in someone's title? Like obaa-chan versus baa-chan. Or onee-chan versus nee-chan.
Speaking of obaa-chan? Can it mean old lady and Grandma? I notice Naruto calls Tsunade that. (just realized this is two questions, you guys can just answer the first if you chose, that's really the main thing bugging me)
2006-09-16 20:28:45 · 4 answers · asked by Enchantress 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Comics & Animation
erm, as i'm not a native speaker, this could be wrong.
but i've read somewhere that the particle "o" can be attached to the front of some nouns as a formal way of saying "your." as a very polite word
i.e : o-namae : someone else's name
o-kuni : someone else's country
but, there are some cases of "o" which does not mean "your." In this case they just make the word more polite.
i.e : o -cha : tea/japanese tea
so, as i said earlier this might/might not be applicable/accurate to ur question. but in my humble opinion tho : they could be the same... Nee san or onee san.. the different would only be the degree of politeness in such word.
as for obasan and obaasan:
obasan : auntie
whereas obaasan : grandma/old lady
the same goes with ojisan and ojiisan
ojisan : uncle
and ojiisan : grandpa/old man
hope somebody who's fluent in japanese could help you with this.
:)
2006-09-17 09:13:36 · answer #1 · answered by nlc0r0bln 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From what I can figure out, it doesn't matter though Nee/Nii-chan is used mostly for relatives and Onee/Onii-chan for a stranger that is older than you.
Obaa-chan looks like it could possibly mean both.
2006-09-16 21:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by Metal Paw 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know the answer to your question nee-chan, but I know that Naruto kicks ***.
2006-09-16 22:08:38 · answer #3 · answered by adrian p 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that the 'o' prefix makes it more formal and polite... (Not that it is polite of Naruto to call Tsunade an old grandma.)
2006-09-17 01:44:59 · answer #4 · answered by Tanuki Girl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋