Chinese Honorifics - Example

Example

請(qǐng) 問(wèn) 你(nǐ) 姓(xìng) 甚麼(shénme) ？ (Simplified: 请问你姓什么？)

"May I ask for your surname?"

The sentence above is an acceptable question when used to people of equal or lower status. But if the addressee is of higher status, or if the person asking the question wants to show more respect, then several changes may occur:

1. The regular second person pronoun 你 (nǐ; you) is replaced by the honorific second person pronoun 您 (nín; you )
2. The casual interrogative pronoun 甚麼•什么 (shénme; what) is dropped
3. The honorific prefix 貴•贵 (guì; honorable) is added in front of 姓 (xìng; last name) to exalt the addressee

So the resulting sentence, 請問您貴姓？•请问您贵姓？(qǐng wèn nín guì xìng): “May I ask for the honorable surname of your honorable self?” is much more polite and more commonly used among people in formal or careful situations.

Below is a collection of some of the better known honorifics and polite prefixes and suffixes that have been used at one time or another in the Chinese lexicon. Pronunciations given are those of today's Mandarin Chinese. Wherever the Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese scripts differ, both are given, separated with a dot and with Traditional first. Many became obsolete after the end of the Qing Dynasty or during the Cultural Revolution and are no longer used.