A Basic Guide to Honorifics

The following may or may not be correct historically in the real world but then again, Amahara is Not Japan.

Social Classes

Nobility

Samurai
The samurai class is the basic level of nobility in Amahara. The original samurai clans were landed families that trained as armoured horse archers in support of shrine maidens. Today, there is a much greater disparity in the variety of samurai owing to drifts in economic status.

Clergy
The clerical class are a subset of the samurai class that also produce shrine maidens and were part of the old nobility.

Commoner

Peasant

Merchant

Honorifics

-san
The vanilla honorific used between adults of comparable rank of either gender.

-kun
Indicates address to a person of lower rank, of either gender.

-dono
An honorific used to address someone of the same high rank as yourself - effectively -sama without implying a lower rank on your own part. Appropriate between nobility.

-sama
An honorific indicating great respect and difference in rank. It at once denotes high rank on the part of the person being addressed and acknowledges lower rank of the speaker.

-hime
Means princess.

-gozen
Honorific referring to a female samurai of significance.

-oujosama
Means lady (of higher rank) and is less distant than -hime. This would be what Zanka grew up being referred to as by the maids.

-sempai
This is a familiar honorific used towards a senior colleague.

-sensei
Denotes a master of any profession, art or craft.

-shishou
Like -sensei but denotes greater respect and indicates grand mastery of a limited number of traditional arts - other arts may use -sensei universally.

-chan
Very intimate and dimunitive form of address.