[Japanese] Brother, my brother.

[Johnzaloog]

[Japanese] Brother, my brother.

I've heard several variations of the word brother in different animés and I was wondering the conditions of each, I'm excluding Aniki from the list as I know what it means.

Niichan
Onii-chan
Niisan
Oniisan

 

[Skr]

I always thought that Onii mean't big brother, while nii was just brother D= But don't ask me on the endings D=

Same goes for Onee and Nee which are for sister o-o

 

[Himi-chan]

No clue. Here's my guess until someone who speaks Japanese sees this thread.

Onii : Formal
Nii : Not formal
-chan : Like, casual or close probably.
-san: Dunno why, but you have to respect them, less respect than -sama though. Or you just aren't close.

 

[SSJ Jup81]

I mentioned this at WtW...I'll just opst it here too.

Niisan" and "Neesan" could also be used as "oniisan" or "oneesan" or "niisama" or "neesama" or "oniisama" or "oneesama", etc., depending on who's using it.

For example, due to her high respect for Mimi, Miyako uses the "sama" honorific with her, as well as "oneesama" at times (Mimi-sama; Mimi-oneesama).

Anywho, as it was pointed out, those two can mean brother and sister, but can also be addressed towards those older than you. Another example, is Mimi in Adventure when they were hitchhiking. When that guy picked them up (yes, he was a stranger in the original), she referred to him as "oniisan", and wanted him to cut down the music (Etemon's theme was playing, iirc lol).

What's used after the "onii" or "onee" or "nii" or "nee" part just depends on the speaker. san is pretty polite and somewhat formal. sama is very respectful. chan is pretty much the most casual of them, and seems to be used by young children. Oh, and the "o" pretty much makes it more polite and respectful, iirc.

 

[Johnzaloog]

Thanks, I sorta guessed but I thought I'd better make sure.