San is the most common honorific and is a title of respect. It is used for the surnames or given names of both males and females. Although in translation san is usually rendered as a common courtesy title like “Mr.” or “Ms.”, unlike these it is never used in self-reference.
San may also be used in combination with nouns describing the addressee or referent other than the person's name; for example, a bookseller might be addressed or referred to as honya-sansan) and a butcher, as nikuya-san ("butcher" + san).
Kun
Kun is an informal honorific primarily used towards males (it is still used towards females, but rarely). It is used by persons of senior status in addressing those of junior status, by males of roughly the same age and status when addressing each other, and by anyone in addressing male children.
School teachers typically address male students using kun, while female students are addressed as san or chan. The use of kun to address male children is similar to the use of san when addressing adults.
Chan
Chan is a diminutive suffix. It is an informal version of "san" used to address children and female family members. It may also be used towards animals, lovers, intimate friends, and people whom one has known since childhood. "Chan" continues to be used as a term of endearment, especially for girls, into adulthood. Parents will probably always call their daughters "chan" and their sons "kun," though "chan" can be used towards boys just as easily. Adults may use "chan" as a term of endearment to women with whom they are on close terms.
Chan can be considered a feminine mode of speech in that it is used mainly by, or towards, females. Its pattern of usage is similar to using "dear" when addressing someone in English. Males would not use chan when addressing other males
"Pet names" are often made by attaching chan to a truncated stem of a name. This implies even greater intimacy than simply attaching it to the full name. So for example, a pet rabbit (usagi) might be called usa-chan rather than usagi-chan.
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