さま

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Japanese honorifics

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From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of さ (sa, “that”, pronominal indicating a person, place, thing, or direction in the middle distance) +‎ ま (ma, “likeness, way, similarity”, suffix indicating a quality).^[1]

• ざま (-zama) (when used as a suffix in some combinations)

• (Tokyo) さま [sàmáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [sa̠ma̠]

(with rendaku when used as a suffix in some combinations)

• IPA^(key): [sa̠ma̠]

さま • (sama) 

1. a person's appearance (as of body, or style, or face, etc.)
2. the state or situation of a thing

   鋭(えい)敏(びん)。感(かん)覚(かく)が鋭(するど)いこと。また、そのさま。ref: 鋭敏 on the Japanese Wiktionary.Wiktionary ^ja

   Eibin. Kankaku ga surudoi koto. Mata, sono sama.

   Eibin. For the senses to be sharp. Or, the state of being such.

3. the general trend, tenor, or feel of a thing
4. one's social station, status, or quality
5. the way or means of doing something, how one does something
6. the reason or circumstances for something

さま • (sama) 

1. (archaic, honorific) second-person pronoun: you, you all
2. (archaic, honorific) third-person distal pronoun: he, she, they (distant from both speaker and listener)

Used primarily by women of the red-light districts of the Edo period.^[1]

The pronoun senses have largely fallen into disuse. These originated as abbreviations of longer forms 君様 (kimisama, literally “lord + that way”), 方様 (katasama, literally “that side + that way”), or 貴様 (kisama, literally “noble + that way”), with the -sama suffix (see below) developing into an independent use.

さま • (-sama) 

1. (honorific) polite personal suffix: honorable, Mr., Ms.

   Synonym: (polite) さん (san)

   吉(よし)田(だ)様(さま)が来(こ)られました。

   Yoshida-sama ga koraremashita.

   Mr. [honorable] Yoshida has come here.

2. (honorific) attaching to nouns or other nominals: a politeness marker that often has no direct translation, replacing copula です (​desu)

   Synonym: (polite) さん (san)

   ご苦(く)労(ろう)様(さま)。

   Gokurō-sama.

   You have done well [honorable].

3. attaching to specific nouns or other nominals: that way, that direction

   逆(さか)様(さま)、横(よこ)様(さま)

   sakasama, yokosama

   backwards, sideways

4. (archaic) attaching to verbs: just as (indicating the specific time when the verb is happening)
5. attaching to verbs: the way of doing something, how one does something (often undergoes rendaku, changing -sama to -zama)

   座(すわ)り様(さま)

   suwarisama

   how one sits

The honorific senses developed out of euphemistic use of the noun sense of sama, “that way”, as an oblique form of reference, starting from around the Muromachi period.^[1]

The -sama suffix after personal names is more respectful than the everyday さん (-san), and is generally only used when being very polite. Gender-neutral. This is sometimes glossed as honorable, but honorable is also used as a title, such as for judges or governors or certain ranks of nobility, whereas -sama is purely about politeness and relative social closeness.

• → Ainu: サマ (sama)
• → English: -sama
• → Chinese:

  → Mandarin: 樣／样 (yàng)