<p>When addressing the listener's family, a prefix 令 (ling4, which has a meaning of good, lucky) can be used:</p>
<ul>
<li>令尊, your father</li>
<li>令堂, your mother</li>
<li>令郎, your son</li>
<li>令嫒, your daughter</li>
<li>令兄, your elder brother</li>
<li>令弟, your younger brother</li>
<li>令姊, your elder sister</li>
<li>令妹, your younger sister</li>
</ul>
<p>Correspondingly, when addressing the speaker's own family, a prefix 家(jia1, which means home, family) is used:</p>
<ul>
<li>家父, 家严, my father</li>
<li>家母, 家慈, my mother</li>
<li>家兄, my elder brother</li>
<li>家弟, 舍弟, my younger brother</li>
<li>家姊, my elder sister</li>
<li>家妹, 舍妹, my younger sister</li>
</ul>
<p>舍 (she4, my humble house) is used only with the younger of the same generation, or the younger generation:</p>
<ul>
<li>舍侄 (brother's son), 舍甥 (sister's son), my nephew</li>
</ul>
<p>My son and my daughter are 犬子, 犬女. 犬 here is puppy. But it's extremely rude to call others with any dog related words.</p>
<p>In daily informal cases, we can use:</p>
<ul>
<li>您 as a replacement of 令</li>
<li>我 as a replacement of 家、舍,</li>
<li>common words like 父亲, 母亲, 哥哥, 弟弟, 姐姐, 妹妹, 儿子, 女儿</li>
</ul>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>您父亲, your father</li>
<li>我弟弟, my younger brother</li>
</ul>
<p>My father and my mother can be 我爸爸, 我妈妈. But 您爸爸X or 您妈妈X is not proper because 爸爸 and 妈妈 are not honorific while 父亲 and 母亲 are.</p>
<p>Besides, 尊 (zun1, honor, respect) is a honorific prefix:</p>
<ul>
<li>尊夫, your husband</li>
<li>尊夫人, your wife, also 嫂夫人</li>
<li>尊驾, you</li>
<li>尊师, your teacher</li>
<li>尊长, your elders</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-06-07T02:12:10.890Z
2020-08-17T22:43:41.857Z
2020-08-17T22:43:41.857Z
ElpieKay
<p>What are the most common Chinese honorifics? As far as I know we have:</p>
<ol>
<li>大人 = respect, like the -sama in Japanese</li>
<li>贵 = your</li>
<li>臣 = your servant</li>
<li>朕 = I (only used by the emperor)</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-06T20:12:48.747Z
I hope this is not off-topic and we make a complete list
Lex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-06T20:29:09.297Z
no 4 should be 朕 (u+6715), used as "I" for emperor only since 秦始皇.
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-06T20:32:40.020Z
isn't the wiki page enough?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_honorifics
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-06T20:56:21.220Z
I have to admit that I didn't expect for a list to already exist.  However I am wondering if all the terms are all quite common, for example I can see from the list that  愚,鄙,敝 have basically the same meaning, so maybe one of these is never used. From the Pov of someone who wants to study the honorifics, I would say that the wiki doesn't give much explanation in this sense.
Lex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-06T22:03:12.070Z
this wiki is in english only, no equivalent in chinese :(

i would say that it's mostly correct in the context of literary chinese, especially correspondences of yore. for modern, or regional usage, it's suitable for beginner :)

"愚,鄙,敝", were used frequently in literary chinese, as humble, polite term of "my", roughly.
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-07T06:39:52.477Z
汝 is a nice one for 'you'
Mou某
<terms-of-address><formal>
What are the most common Chinese honorifics?
# What are the most common Chinese honorifics?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-06)

What are the most common Chinese honorifics? As far as I know we have:

1. 大人 = respect, like the -sama in Japanese
2. 贵 = your
3. 臣 = your servant
4. 朕 = I (only used by the emperor)

**Tags:** terms-of-address, formal

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I hope this is not off-topic and we make a complete list  
> **username_1**: no 4 should be 朕 (u+6715), used as "I" for emperor only since 秦始皇.  
> **username_1**: isn't the wiki page enough?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_honorifics  
> **username_0**: I have to admit that I didn't expect for a list to already exist.  However I am wondering if all the terms are all quite common, for example I can see from the list that  愚,鄙,敝 have basically the same meaning, so maybe one of these is never used. From the Pov of someone who wants to study the honorifics, I would say that the wiki doesn't give much explanation in this sense.  
> **username_1**: this wiki is in english only, no equivalent in chinese :(  i would say that it's mostly correct in the context of literary chinese, especially correspondences of yore. for modern, or regional usage, it's suitable for beginner :)  "愚,鄙,敝", were used frequently in literary chinese, as humble, polite term of "my", roughly.  
> **username_2**: 汝 is a nice one for 'you'  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-06-07. Score: 4

When addressing the listener's family, a prefix 令 (ling4, which has a meaning of good, lucky) can be used:

* 令尊, your father
* 令堂, your mother
* 令郎, your son
* 令嫒, your daughter
* 令兄, your elder brother
* 令弟, your younger brother
* 令姊, your elder sister
* 令妹, your younger sister

Correspondingly, when addressing the speaker's own family, a prefix 家(jia1, which means home, family) is used:

* 家父, 家严, my father
* 家母, 家慈, my mother
* 家兄, my elder brother
* 家弟, 舍弟, my younger brother
* 家姊, my elder sister
* 家妹, 舍妹, my younger sister

舍 (she4, my humble house) is used only with the younger of the same generation, or the younger generation:

* 舍侄 (brother's son), 舍甥 (sister's son), my nephew

My son and my daughter are 犬子, 犬女. 犬 here is puppy. But it's extremely rude to call others with any dog related words.

In daily informal cases, we can use:

* 您 as a replacement of 令
* 我 as a replacement of 家、舍,
* common words like 父亲, 母亲, 哥哥, 弟弟, 姐姐, 妹妹, 儿子, 女儿

Examples:

* 您父亲, your father
* 我弟弟, my younger brother

My father and my mother can be 我爸爸, 我妈妈. But 您爸爸X or 您妈妈X is not proper because 爸爸 and 妈妈 are not honorific while 父亲 and 母亲 are.

Besides, 尊 (zun1, honor, respect) is a honorific prefix:

* 尊夫, your husband
* 尊夫人, your wife, also 嫂夫人
* 尊驾, you
* 尊师, your teacher
* 尊长, your elders


---

