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The Japanese language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes for addressing or referring to people, for example ''San'' as in ''Aman-san''. These honorifics are often gender-neutral, but some imply a more feminine context (such as "-chan") while others imply a more masculine one (such as "-kun"). These honorifics are used as suffixes that attach to the end of people's names, and can be applied to either the first or last name depending on which is given. In situations where both the first and last names are spoken, the suffix is attached to whichever comes last in the word order. While these honorifics are solely used on proper nouns, these suffixes can turn common nouns into proper nouns when attached to the end of them. This can be seen on words such as "猫ちゃん" or "neko-chan" which turns the common noun "neko" or "cat" into a proper noun which would refer solely to that particular cat, while adding the honorific "-chan" to mean "cute" or "small". These honorifics are often used in conjunction to Japanese honorific speech, such as Keigo, which can be found in the conjugation of verbs. == Usage == Although honorifics are not part of the basic grammar of the Japanese language, they are a fundamental part of the sociolinguistics of Japanese, and proper use is essential to proficient and appropriate speech. Significantly, referring to oneself using an honorific, or dropping an honorific when it is required, is a serious faux pas, in either case coming across as clumsy or arrogant. An honorific is generally used when referring to the person one is talking to (one's ''interlocutor''), or when referring to an unrelated third party in speech. It is dropped however by some superiors, when referring to one's in-group, and in formal writing, and is never used to refer to oneself, except for dramatic effect, or some exceptional cases. Dropping the honorific suffix when referring to one's interlocutor, which is known as to , implies a high degree of intimacy and is generally reserved for one's spouse, younger family members, social inferiors (as in a teacher addressing students in traditional arts), and very close friends. Within sports teams or among classmates, where the interlocutors approximately have the same age or seniority, it can also be acceptable to use family names without honorifics. Some people in the younger generation (roughly "born since 1970") prefer to be referred to without an honorific, however, and drop honorifics as a sign of informality even with casual acquaintances. When referring to a third person, honorifics are used except when referring to one's family members while talking to a non-family-member, or when referring to a member of one's company while talking to a customer or someone from another company—this is the uchi-soto (in-out) distinction. Honorifics are not used to refer to oneself, except to be arrogant (''ore-sama''), to be cute (''-chan''), or sometimes when talking to small children, to teach them how to address the speaker. Use of honorifics is correlated with other forms of honorific speech in Japanese, notably use of the polite form (''-masu, desu'') versus the plain form—using the plain form with a polite honorific (''-san, -sama'') can be jarring, for instance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese honorifics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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