Amaethon said:
How's it going? You know Gaelic?!
Yup, Irish is the national language of Ireland. We learn to speak it alongside English. Although calling it "Gaelic" is kind of ambiguous, since there's Scots Gaelic too.
Amaethen said:
I've always wanted to lear Gaelic. ;_;
Dunno why, it makes so little sense when I try to analyze it grammatically, it's as far from English as Japanese is. XD
TheExa said:
Why do you hate me so much?
I LOVE you! LOVE! <3! *showers you in <3 balloons*
Amaethon said:
Hey Pazzy, would you be able to explain the difference between different honorifics to me? There's an awful lot, so I don't know when I'd use what.
Okey-dokey.
-chan: For kids and intimate people. It's actually a corruption of "san". Because children couldn't make the "s" sound, they said it like "chan" instead, and that became a way of referring to children. And lovers. Yes. It's also used to make fun of people and call them girly or kiddy or whatever. Don't use it on a male who isn't a little kid if you want to keep your teeth intact.
Naruto calls Sakura "Sakura-chan" because she's female and he cares for her, and also likes her in *that* way.
-dono: Comes from the Japanese word "tono", which was a lord in the feudal period. It was used for highly-respected people a long time ago, but now it's pretty much never used except in period literature/dramas. You'd sometimes see people use it when they're making fun of someone. Also, it's used in letters and such when you'd see "Esq." in an English letter (i.e. not all that commonly).
Sarutobi called the Kazekage "Kazekage-dono". It's very stiff and formal.
-hime: Hime means princess. It's just a regular word tagged on to a name to show their status. You don't tend to hear it used as a suffix in real life these days, it's mostly a story thing, like "kisama". Like, Crown Princess Masako is referred to as "Masako-sama", never "Masako-hime".
Tsunade is called "Tsunade-hime" by some, referring to the fact that she's the granddaughter of Shodai Hokage.
-kun: "I'm better than you." Basically. There's two uses of this. Usage 1 is the basic superior-to-inferior suffix. Like, a boss with his subordinates or a teacher with students. For this, you can use it to both male and female alike. Usage 2 is between young boys and girls, but only TOWARDS boys. It can also be seen in this way for older people who've known each other since childhood.
Sakura calls Naruto "Naruto-kun" when she starts to respect him as a fellow team member.
-niisan/neesan/baasan/jiisan: Asian countries place a huge HUGE emphasis on in-groups and out-groups and the most basic of in-groups is your family. So, you'd call a stranger "Neesan" (older sister) out of politeness. Of course, it applies in your own family too, although you NEVER call a younger member (son, little brother, etc.) by their title. Ever.
Naruto calls Tsunade "Tsunade no baachan" through the fact that he knows she's old and it also carries over-familiarity.
-oyabun: Boss. Again, a title being tagged on to a name.
Naruto calls Gamabunta "Gama-oyabun".
-sama: Back around the "dono" times, "sama" was the standard honorific, like "san" is today. Nowadays, it carries the same level of high respect as "dono" did before. It's often used in letters, in situations requiring a high level of respect and by shopkeepers addressing customers.
Everyone calls Sarutobi/Tsunade "Hokage-sama" out of high respect, since they're the leaders of the village.
-san: A contraction of "sama" that's the standard honorific nowadays. It carries the meaning of "Mr(s)", except that it's used a LOT more commonly, and you'll find yourself addressing most Japanese people with a "-san". It's just the normal thing.
Sakura calls Lee "Lee-san" after he saves her in the Forest of Death, due to her high respect for him, and also because she doesn't know him well enough to "-kun" him.
-senpai/sempai: Older student. In Japan, you have a sempai-kohai (older-younger student) relationship, where the sempai looks after the kohai and guides them. In a Japanese classroom, the sempai tends to be the oldest in the class, or the most experienced. You see this a lot in martial arts too.
I dunno any examples of it in Naruto. Anyone recall any?
-sensei: Appended to teachers, but also doctors and people in the artistic professions, such as writers and artists. Kishimoto is called "Kishimoto-sensei" in articles and interviews. This suffix is a lot less arbitrary than the others, it's required. And it doesn't just apply to the area they're teaching you. If you see your teacher out on the street, they're still "sensei" and probably will be for the rest of your life, unless you grow to be their direct sensei or something.
Team 7 call Kakashi "Kakashi-sensei" because...well...he's their teacher.
...and that's all I can think of right now. If there's anything else, shoot and I'll try to explain it.
So, that just leaves you name. 
