"s2m-sensei" tte ii yo!! ^^V

[slr2moons]

One of the strange consequences of my Fushigi Yuugi Gateway Glossary and Liner Notes pages is that about three times a year, I'll be emailed by a complete stranger asking me a random Japanese language question. I've been asked for more information about "genki", to further explain the significance of name suffixes, what "datteba yo" means, and occasionally the simple vocab question along the lines of what "watashi" is and why it comes up all the time in anime. I even helped a girl with her homework once.

I don't mind explaining this stuff at all. I mean, it's obvious from my page above that I love learning the language and think everyone who enjoys manga and anime should at least try to learn it themselves. But I do find it interesting these people email me out of the blue and ask these questions. I suppose this is because I sound so friendly on my site, and that I'm a named person and not some faceless business, automatic dictionary, or intimidating translation group. And I'm aware that this is kind of the case of blind-leading-the-blind. But still, I obviously know more about the language than the people who email me, so I don't mind offering them what I know. Tonikaku....

Today, I found another one in my inbox.

>I have a question about the japanese language...
>My boyfriend has a Japanese friend that is a girl who
>he used to date...and she always writes his name
>"jeffko" (his name is jeff)
>is this normal or is this something romantic?
>i would really appreciate if you could tell me. thanks.

My answer is below:

It's a cute nickname. "Ko" is the most common ending sound in female Japanese names. Some examples are Ayako, Moriko, Kyoko, Tomoko, etc. It's kind of like all the English female names that end in "na" or "nie". "Ko" is written with the kanji that means "child." Thus the reason it a cute nickname.

When his girlfriend adds "ko" to the end of his name, she's showing her affection for him. Not only that, it proves how close they are. She feels comfortable enough with him that she knows she can call him a cute nickname, and knows that he won't mind. A Japanese guy would likely be annoyed at this type of nickname. To be fair, not all of them would be bothered by it, but most would. I've never heard of a Japanese girl calling her Japanese boyfriend ___-ko before. I've seen it with men calling women that: in Sailor Moon, the main character's name was "Usagi" and her boyfriend called her "Usako". But never with girls referring to guys. In fact, it's rather rare for Japanese girls to give their boyfriends nicknames.

Japan is a culture based on class rank and politeness. They're all modern now, but those old-timey ideas are still around. Using someone's name (like Jeff instead of Mr. Jeff) shows they are close friends or lovers. Taking that a step farther and using a nickname shows that even more.

Oh, here's a good analogy to conclude. "Jeffko" is like calling him "Jeffie".

Does that help??

Toodles,
s2m

Ahhh! Spreading the joy of foreign culture one email at a time!