Chinese honorifics () and honorific language are words, word constructs, and expressions in the Chinese language that convey self-deprecation, social respect, politeness, or deference. Once ubiquitously employed in ancient China, a large percent has fallen out of use in the contemporary Chinese lexicon. The promotion of vernacular Chinese during the New Culture Movement ( or ) of the 1910s and 1920s in China further hastened the demise of a large body of Chinese honorifics previously preserved in the vocabulary and grammar of Classical Chinese.
Although Chinese honorifics have simplified to a large degree, contemporary Chinese still retains a sizable set of honorifics. Many of the classical constructs are also occasionally employed by contemporary speakers to convey formality, humility, politeness or respect. Usage of classical Chinese honorifics is also found frequently in contemporary Chinese literature and television or cinematic productions that are set in the historical periods. Honorific language in Chinese is achieved by using honorific or beautifying alternatives, prefixing or suffixing a word with a polite complement, or by dropping casual-sounding words.
In general, there are five distinct categories of honorific language:
Respectful Language (), which is used when referring to others to show deference and politeness. Humble Language (), which is used when referring to oneself in a self-deprecating manner to show humbleness and humility. Indirect Language (), which is the use of euphemisms or tactful language to approach sensitive topics and show respect. Courteous Language (), which employs praising and laudatory words or phrases with the intent to flatter the addressee. Elegant Language (), which employs elegant and beautiful expressions and words in lieu of more casual words and phrases to describe people, objects, actions or concepts. It is often used on occasions where casual language may be deemed inappropriate. Due to the lack of equivalent expressions in English, translated phrases often do not convey the same sense of beauty or elegance.
Because of its widespread usage as a Lingua Franca, Mandarin Chinese is used herein synonymously with the term "contemporary Chinese". Variations in honorifics used and their usage exist in the other Sinitic languages, as well as among the various Mandarin dialects.
Introduction The term 知書達禮 (Literally -- one who knows the books and achieves proper mannerism) has been used to praise and characterize those of high academic and moral accomplishments and those of proper manner and conduct. Using the proper honorific or humble forms of address and other parts of speech toward oneself and toward others is an important element or requirement in the proper observation of 禮儀 (lǐyí, etiquette, formality, and rite). Honorific parts of speech include pronoun substitutes, modified nouns, proper nouns, and pronouns, modified verbs, honorific adjectives, honorific 成語 (chéngyǔ, "canned phrases/idioms"), and honorific alternatives for other neutral or deprecating words.
In ancient China, myriad humble and respectful forms of address, in lieu of personal pronouns and names, were used for various social relationships and situations. The choice of a pronoun substitute was often in adherence to the concepts of (Lit. above-beneath / superior-subordinate, “social hierarchy”), (Lit. worthy-worthless, "social class"), and ("seniority") or for short.
Social hierarchy and class In the Confucian philosophical classic of or "Yizhuan - Xici"—a latter day commentary on the book of or "I Ching" ("Book of Changes"), it is stated "天尊地卑，乾坤定矣。卑高以陳，貴賤位矣。" -- it was believed in ancient China that both the order of nature, i.e., 天尊地卑 (heaven be above, earth be beneath), and from it the derived order of man, were long predetermined and dictated by the heavens, e.g., 君尊臣卑 (king be above/superior, court officials be beneath/subordinate), 男尊女卑 (man superior, woman subordinate), 夫尊婦卑 (husband superior, wife subordinate), and 父尊子卑 (father superior, son subordinate) etc. Every king and their subject, every man and woman, every husband and wife, and every father and son, should naturally follow this predetermined order and practice proper and conduct. As a large part of , proper speech was of great importance.
Therefore in speech, among other forms of and social behaviors, the "subordinate" or "inferior" would employ self-deprecating and humble language towards self and respectful language towards the "superior" as a recognition of their relative places in the "natural" hierarchy. On the other hand, the "superiors" would often also use humble language as a display of humility and virtue. Unsurprisingly, the characters 尊~ and 卑~ also became honorific and humble prefixes, respectively. For example, the humble substitute (this inferior one below) would be used, among other deprecating substitutes, in place of the pronoun "I", and the honorific substitute (the superior one above) would replace the pronoun "you" (later also used for "your parents").
Related to is the concept of . Those with power, money and status were 貴 (worthy, honorable), and those without were 賤 (worthless, despised). These two characters also became the honorific and humble prefixes 貴~ and 賤~. Examples: 貴國 (your honorable country), 貴庚 (your honorable age), 貴姓 (your honorable surname), 貴公司 (your honorable company), and 賤姓 (my unworthy surname), 賤民 (the unworthy and despised commoner), 賤妾 (this unworthy wife of yours), 賤内 (my unworthy wife), etc. 貴~ remains a commonly used honorific prefix to this day.
Seniority Likewise, those of a junior (i.e., or ) would show respect and deference to their ("senior"), or ("elder"), and ("ancestors"). is not necessarily based on age, for example, a younger person who entered a school or profession before an older person would be considered the . A person who is much younger than his/her nephew in a large extended family would still be a to the nephew. If two people are of the same (i.e., or ), then either experience or age would determine the hierarchy depending on the situation.
Contemporary Chinese mostly abandoned the and distinctions (especially 卑 and 賤) in its honorific practice, but retains elements of the distinctions. For example, the suffixes ~ (Lit. elder sister) and ~ (Lit. elder brother) are commonly used by junior people when addressing their seniors. Those of the next higher (i.e., ) acquire the suffixes ~姨，~叔 etc. Those even higher in receive the suffixes ~婆，~公，~伯 etc. When addressing a junior, the suffixes ~妹, ~弟 are used. While these suffixes derived from kinship names, they are commonly used between unrelated people. Example: when addressing a group leader at work whose name is ，the less experienced person in the group might call her 芳姐 Fāng-jiě. Because these suffixes have an age connotation, their use and application are not always appropriate. Variations were created such as ~小哥哥 (Lit. little elder brother)， ~小姐姐 (Lit. little elder sister) to soften age connotations. A wrong suffix can also be used intentionally to please or belittle another person. For example, some older women may prefer a ～姨 rather than ～婆 suffix, and a middle age woman may prefer to still be called ~姐 rather than ~姨. When these suffixes are used without a preceding name, or when a name is not complemented by one of these suffixes, the intimacy prefix ~ is often added. is a functional particle without an actual meaning by itself, but when combined with a name (e.g., 阿芳，阿強) or with one of the related suffixes (e.g., 阿哥，阿姨，阿伯，阿婆), adds a sense of intimacy (i.e., closeness, affection) with the addressed. can be used together with a suffix, e.g., 阿芳姐 (ā-Fāng-jiě)，阿强哥 (ā-Qiáng-gē). Other related honorific modifiers include 老~，大~，小~，~總，~董, see noun complements section below for more details.
Honorific verbs Like nouns and proper nouns, some Chinese verbs can also be complemented with an honorific modifier. For example, the verbs ("to tell"), ("to return")， ("to accompany"), ("to urge")， ("to gift") can be complemented by the honorific prefix ~ (Lit. to offer respectfully) to form the more polite versions 奉告 (I respectfully tell you), 奉還 (I respectfully return to you), 奉陪 (I respectfully accompany you), 奉勸 (I respectfully urge you), and 奉送 (I respectfully gift you). Another example is the honorific prefix ~ (Lit. "look forward to respectfully"), e.g., 恭賀 (I respectfully congratulate you), 恭候 (I respectfully await you), 恭請 (I respectfully invite you)，恭迎 (I respectfully welcome you). The addition of the honorific prefix turns these verbs into a politer version. Unlike adverbs, the prefixes are often verbs themselves, and the compounded honorific verb functions as a single language unit (i.e., a single verb). Other common prefixes for verbs and verb examples are summarized in the verb complements section below.
Grammar In practice, many of the honorific compound words are used as canned polite word alternatives, rather than being grammatically composed as people speak. There is not a systemic rule in Chinese grammar to alter words (e.g., conjugation or other inflections) for the purpose of increasing speech politeness, though the same effect can often be achieved. However, in letters (，) and official documents (), a complex system of honorifics and rule sets exists.
Examples of honorific speech Example 1:
？ ？ "What is your family name (surname)?"
The sentence above is a perfectly acceptable question when addressing others of equal or lower status (e.g., addressing a junior or a child). To increase politeness, e.g., if the addressee is of higher status or the person asking the question wants to show more respect, several changes may be employed:
The honorific prefix (lit. to request) + verb (to ask) (qǐngwèn, "May I please ask..."; lit. [I] request to ask) may be added The regular second-person pronoun (nǐ, "you") may be replaced by the honorific second-person pronoun (nín, "you" [courteous]) The honorific prefix (guì, lit. "worthy", "honorable") may be added before (xìng, "family name"); is used as a verb (i.e., "to have the family name of"). If the honorific prefix is added, the contemporary interrogative pronoun (shénme, "what") is usually dropped.
The resulting sentence:
？ ？ "May I (respectfully) request to ask you (whom I cherish) for your honorable surname?"
is more polite and commonly used among people in formal situations.
Example 2:
，？ "Miss, how old are you?"
The above can be changed to a more polite question by employing the honorific prefix 敢 (lit. to dare) + verb 問 (to ask) (gǎnwèn, "[May I] dare to ask..."), and honorific prefix (fāng, lit. fragrant, virtuous, beautiful) + noun (líng, age).
? ? "May I dare to ask for this Miss's age (of fragrance and beauty)?"
The second-person pronoun ("you") is substituted entirely by the honorific title ("Miss") in this case. This latter way of questioning is more of classical usage, but is still occasionally used in contemporary Chinese. It is also an example of elegant speech ().
Categorization In general, there are several types of honorifics used in the Chinese language as described below.
Respectful language - Respectful Language employs modified words or substitutes called (Lit. respectful vocabulary) that convey a sense of respect for the addressee. For example:
: Lit. the beautiful and beloved -- Your daughter; the honorific prefix 令~ replaces the pronoun "your". : Lit. the beautiful one who is worth a thousand gold -- Your daughter. : Lit. the highly valued precious banner—Your business; the honorific prefix 貴~ replaces the pronoun "your", and the prefix 寳~ modifies 號 to form an honorific substitute for someone's business.
Humble language - Humble Language employs modified words or substitutes called (Lit. humble vocabulary) that convey a sense of self-deprecation and humility for the speaker. For example:
: Lit. this one who is beneath you -- used as pronoun "I"