Japanese Lesson (4) Family

Now that you know about prefixes, it'll be easier to talk about family.

Far left as the more formal to far right as informal form... When you're addressing...

• Mother, Mom, Mommy = (O)kaasama, (O)kaasan, (O)kaachan; Hahaue (this term was used in samurai families prior to the Meiji period)
  Notice that we use prefixes when addressing 'mom.' It's the same idea throughtout. The '(O)' part is optional, but it is often used. Reason probably being is that putting an 'O' in everything is probably tiresome, though probably is the most proper way of speaking.
• Father, Dad, Daddy = (O)tousama, (O)tousan, (O)touchan; Chichiue (used in samurai families as well)
  
• Older/elder Sister = (O)neesama, (O)neesan, (O)neechan; Aneki is another but rarely used
  
  you can insert the person's name before mentioning the"nee"+prefix part which is the same for elder brother and sometimes but rarely to mother/father
• Older/elder Brother = (O)niisama, (O)niisan, (O)niichan; Aniki is another but is rarely used as well

Similar to the "sempai" idea (as seen here), younger brothers and sisters don't have a title. To the older brother and sister, they would just call their younger siblings by their names. And being they are in a close relationship, they would use the -chan prefix or without a prefix at all.

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