Basictsapanose Lesson 20 * “-sama” words The -sama ending is usually fi ite form of -sar the suffix for names that’s equivalent « in English. It is also used t0 sake family terms Tike okdsan ("mother") and orOsan ("father") more polite as whe relering to someone else's family members or when you need to address members of your own family in 4 particularly polite manner: okasama, ofosama, The -sama words we show you In this Tesson are also polite expressions, but they have nothing todo with names or family. Gokurd-sama, for example, isthe word kuro C334), mean- ing “woublefsuffering/ard work,” with the honorific prefix go- and the honorific ending -sama but it doesn't mean “The Honorable Mr. Trouble." Itmeans “Thank you for your oubefbard work.” “The other words we illustrate here all follow the same patern ofa word framed by an honor fic prefix (o- oF go-) and the honorific ending sama, None can be translated literally, but most of the ones we've chosen are used in situations where an English speaker would say “Thank you for. y" or perhaps simply “Thank you.” Two of the examples can be thought of as apologies Adding desu ot deshita, according to the situation, makes the expression sound more form. In informal situations most -sama words ean be changed to -san, of the -sama/-san ending can be dropped altogether — though this is not necessarily true ofall sama words, Even when the ending is dropped altogether, though, the honorific prefix (o- or go-) must be kept. Goku sama reduced to gokurd still means “Thank you for Your trouble/hard work,” but without the Prefix go=it becomes just an ordinary noun meaning “trouble/sufferingMhardwork.” ‘We begin with several examples of gokurd-sama and the quite similar fsukare-sama, Then ‘we present four other frequently used -sama words. Accepting a delivery Her family in the country has sent her a box of potatoes, and as the delivery man brings the heavy load into her front hall, she thanks him for his labors by saying gokurd-sama, 2 UR BbAY LE~~ TH Inkan onegai shima—sut? ‘(Your sea, please! 2659 8Ex~ -gokurd-sama— “Thank you 50 much (for your trouble).” (PL2) inkan (also referred to as hanko) isthe small seal most adult Japanese carry with them for use in tions where Americans would be required to give a signature, (© Kobayashi Makoto / What's Michze?, Kodansba 34 MawaasinThanking in advance ‘The woman on the left is visiting her husband inthe hospital. The nurse has come to take the patient's blood pressure 1 Sakata & Kezama Kase noDeich Shogekukan Nurse: WE & UD Ey Ketsuatsu 0 hakarimasu. “LIL take his blood pressure.” (PL3) Patient's wifes, © (558204 A,” gokurd-sama desu Thank you (for your trouble). (PL3) Thanking after the fact An informant has brought a tape recording of police discussions about a critical case. The ura (of making the tape and smuggling it out of the building) was performed earlier, so the past form, Gokurd-sama deshita, is appropriate seme cL Gokura-sama deshita “Thank you for your troubles.” (PL3) hi BHR 0 BAL ST ra o-yakusoku no o-rei des his is the fee/reward we promised you.” (PL3) Informant: & Domo “Thanks.” (PL3) + (o-)rei can mean “gratitude/thanks,” but itis typically used to refer to fees paid to certain professionals. *+ domo is really only an emphasizer. meaning “indeed really/very much,” but here its shorthand for domo drigata gozaimasu, “thank you very rauch.” Sao TaoT Garage 1 Seren Shogekan96 Mananuin Man: £~~L, 56498 2nd Woman: An informal version—gokurd-san He is thanking the cats for warm futon, Just as -san is less formal than -sama when used with a name, gokurd-san is less for mal than gokurd-sama. As you can tell from his expression, there's a toueh of sarcasm here. Yoshi, gokuro-san ‘All right, thanks for your trouble.” (PL2-3) TD Kobayashi Makoto Whar? Michael”, Redan An overlap of gokurd-sama and otsukare-sama Otsukare-sama comes from the verb tsukareru, “become/grow tired,” so the expres- sion essentially thanks the listener for efforts that are presumed to have tired him out. That makes its basic meaning very similar to gokura-sama, and in this example, where two ‘women thank the hotel staff for their efforts when the hotel bus became stuck in a snow: storm, both expressions can | be used, The two are not fully "interchangeable, though. It's generally best 10 avoid using gokura-sama with persons of higher status, but this restriction does not apply for otsukare-sama (de shit). © Ishinomor Shite / Hote, Shogakakan Ast Woman: 38.5 Otsukare-sama deshit “It must have been a tiring experience.” (PL3) #4 yxe CLA Hontd ni gokurd-sama deshita ne “Thank you very much for all your efforts.” (PL3)The hard-working writer The man in the bottom frame works for a magazine publisher and is picking ‘up a manuscript from the writer in the top frame. Kitano; 54 BENSE CL, jet Damo oisukare-sama deshte, sense. Thank you for your tireless efforts, Mr. ‘Yamao,” (PL3) Eh RAS 6,246 BO Let Mata raigetsu-gd mo, yoroshiku o-negai shimasu hhope we can count on you for next month’s issue, as well.” (PL3) + im addition to the meaning “teacher,” sensei is also used as a ttle of respect for various professionals, especially if they have achieved prominence in their field. Depending on the profession involved. itean mean “Doctor (medical or otherwise)” “Pro- fessor,” ec, Since this isa writer, we went with a simple “Me Three variations | After a long video shoot, the model and the ew exchange ovsukares in varying levels of formality. Although the model may be making more money than the crew members, she uses the most polite speech form parily because she is young and female. Crewh: BEALE A Orsukare-san “Thank you. Crew 2: Baki Otsutare! “Thanks.” (PL3-2) Model: BAILS Otvukare-sama deshital “Thank you very much!” (PL3) + these variations of “Thank you don’t really correspond to the varying politeness levels of pisukare. In fact, the PL labels ‘we have assigned are rather ar bitrary (PL3) Yajima irckane Nngen Rosacn, ShogsbakanBasic Omachido-sama The standard line used by waiters and waitresses whe chido-sama (deshita). Machida is from the adjective machidai or machid@shii, which e- fers to waiting impatiently for something that is long in coming, and omachid-sama ean e thought of as meaning either “Thank you for waiting” or “Sorry to have kept you wait ving a customer is Oma: Omachide-sana— “Sorry to have kept you waiting.” (PL3-2) Customer: 3 t. po = ' Nakajima Toru/ Puro 0 Mor Goa, Shogakakan Osewa-sama Leaving the doctor's office, this child’s mother uses the expression ovewa-sama. Sewa /aid/go0d offices,” $o asewa-sama means “Thank you for your help.” something of a terror during the visit — hence the doctor's concern about his blood pressure, Mother: BiH CLE: Do, domo osewa-sama deshita ank you for your help.” (PL3) b Chita: in up, now.” (PL2) Sound FX: (ah (2 Ha (sound of heavy breathing) we eisuarsu ga - my blood pressure Nurs © Usut Youtinto/ Karsyow Sia-chan Fuaharha 30 ManeauiwGochiso-sama sama is the appropriate way to thank the one who sion can be used to thank someone for any gift of Sound FX:74 94 Wai wai (boisterous noise of diners) Haha ha Ha ha ha (laughing) uk Gochiso-sama deshira “Thank you (for a wonder- ful meal.” (PL Osomatsu-sama ‘At a Karaoke bar, this woman is apologizing for her poor singing with an expression that comes from somatsu (“coarse/erude/inferior/shabby”). She is likely to apologize this ‘way even if she sang very well — as a matter of modesty. Using this same expression, a modest host or hostess will respond to a guest's gachis(-sama with an apotogy implying the food was coarse/inadequate/poorly prepared no matter how sumptuous the feast may hhave been. Ist Woman: 9) Eu.) Umait? we Saikot! ry Anka’ “Good! Great?! Encore!” Sound FX: N49 HY FY Pachi pachi pachi {clapping sound) 2nd Woman: 84208 Osomarsu-sama deshita!? ‘it was awful.” un Mawaasin 38