ext_26684 ([identity profile] spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] spacealien_vamp 2005-02-01 01:28 am (UTC)

Re: Okay, okay, so let us illiterate ones in on it, too.

So, what did she call you?

"安晴" is the kanji for my name, "先生" (sensei) means "teacher" and "殿" (-dono) is a title of respect (kind of like "-san") except that it's a bit on the archaic side.

This is an unusual combination because, ordinarily, "teacher" is already a term of high respect (also used, by the way, for medical doctors, respected authors, and Important People in general). Adding more after it is overkill...kind of like addressing someone as "Mr. Dr. Smith."

On top of that, using -dono at all, because of its historic nature, is like giving the whole thing a tinge of fantasy. It's not typically used in everyday Japanese. It's kind of like suddenly saying "m'lady" when addressing someone. That's what's so cute about it. (Imagine if one of your students one day called you "M'lady Mrs. Bertram Ma'am." Wouldn't that just be darling?)

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting