Translingual

Han character

様 (radical 75 木+10, 14 strokes, cangjie input 木廿土水 (DTGE) or X木廿土水 (XDTGE), composition ⿰木𣴎)

1. shape, form, pattern, style

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 546, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 15352
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 2, page 1284, character 6
• Unihan data for U+69D8

Chinese

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. sir, madam (more respectful than Mr., Ms, Mrs., Miss)

Readings

• Goon: よう (yō), (historical) やう (yau)
• Kan’on: よう (yō), (historical) やう (yau)
• Kan’yōon: しょう (shō), (historical) しやう (shau)
• Kun: さま (sama)

Etymology 1

/jau/ → /jɔː/ → /joː/

From Middle Chinese 樣 ‎(iɑ̀ng?, “shape, style, pattern”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) よ​う [yóꜜò] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [jo̞ː]

Noun

様 ‎(hiragana よう, romaji yō, historical hiragana やう)

1. way, style, appearance

Adjective

様 ‎(hiragana よう, romaji yō, historical hiragana やう)

1. be like, look like, seem like, as if, having the likeness of
   • まるで夢 (ゆめ)を見 (み)ている様 (よう)だ。

     Maru de yume o mite iru yō da.

     It felt as if I were dreaming.

Inflection

Usage notes

In contemporary Japanese, this term is often written in hiragana.

Etymology 2

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).^[2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) さま​ [sàmáꜜ] (Odaka - [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [sa̠ma̠]

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

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [za̠ma̠]

Alternative forms

• 方 (limited to the noun sense)

Noun

様 ‎(hiragana さま, romaji sama)

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

Pronoun

様 ‎(hiragana さま, romaji 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)

Usage notes

Used primarily by women of the red-light districts of the Edo period.^[2]

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.

Suffix

様 ‎(hiragana さま, romaji -sama, alternative reading ざま, romaji -zama)

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

   吉田 (よしだ)様 (さま)が来 (こ)られましたら…

   Yoshida-sama ga koraremashitara…

   If [honorable] Mr. Yoshida comes here...

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

   ご苦労 (くろう)様 (さま)、ご無事 (ぶじ)に来 (こ)られてお嬉 (うれ)し様 (さま)や。

   Gokurōsama, gobuji ni korarete oureshisama ya.

   You've done well, I'm so happy you were able to get here without incident.

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

Usage notes

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.^[2]

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.

See also

Etymology 3

Childish version of sama above.^[1] Compare the formation of ちゃん ‎(chan) from さん ‎(san).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ちゃま​ [chàmáꜜ] (Odaka - [2])
• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕa̠ma̠]

Suffix

様 ‎(hiragana ちゃま, romaji -chama)

1. (childish) honorific suffix

References

1. 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan