nii-san and aneki (兄さん and 兄貴 )

fhc

BRASIL, Rio de Janeiro .
Dec 17, 2006
244
34
all these things I already learned playing hentai games:

I know: the imouto 妹 ( young sister) always call her older brother like 兄さん (nii-san) or お兄さん (onii-san)

the "cute" (kawaii) young sister always call her older brother like お兄ちゃん (onii-chan)

お兄さん (onii-san) is a "honorable" (polite) way to call a older brotehr, I guess.

but, today, for the fist time, I am playing a game that the imouto is calling her older brother like Aniki (兄貴) but, in katakana アニキ.

WHY ? :puzzled:

I know: katakana is used just because the autor not like to writh the fucking kanji, I not asking about it, I understand very well the usage of hiragana, katakana and kanji.

I am asking about the word ANIKI 兄貴

in my dictionary, 兄さん and 兄貴 have the same meaning: "elder brother" .

but, what is the difference of the usage of these 2 words ?

兄さん and 兄貴 means the same thing...

someone can help me ? I want to understand the usage of these words in the japanese culture.
 

chompy

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Nov 7, 2006
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The difference is register and familiarity, but essentially they mean the same thing in the same context; same goes for haha and okaasan.
NB: Aneki = big sister
Aniki = big brother
but only when referring to your own, not someone elses unless they're familiar to you to (lots of politeness bullshit in japanese)

It can also mean "dude", like "hey dude s'up"

Language isn't a case of black/white. There are numerous ways of saying things in all languages that have almost exactly the same meaning: elder brother, older brother, big brother etc. all mean the same thing.

As for the katakana, it is probably just used to appear cute (little kids don't use any kanji at all)

THe "rules" about kana usage aren't cast in stone.

<rant>awful language</rant>
 

fhc

BRASIL, Rio de Janeiro .
Dec 17, 2006
244
34
Thank you, chompy.

then really is the same thing in the same context ?

I thought that nii-san are a most "affectionate" word than aniki.

is really weird because is very rare the word "aniki" in a hentai game ( at least, in the games that I already played ) .

but, in 99% of the hentai games, the word "onii-san " ( polite word to big brother ) or "onii-chan" ( affectionate and "cute" version of "big brother" ) is much more used.



then, in the real life, what is the most used word by a young sister to call her big brother ?

I not sure, but, I guess, "onii-chan" is only used in animes and hentai games.

another funny word is お兄様  onii-sama (おにいさま) I know: the suffix "sama" means "honorable" or "venerable" , then, お兄様  means "honorable big brother".

Is much used in hentai games too, but, I guess, is very weird to be used in the real life. is really weird a sister call her brother like "venerable" ...

I guess, "onii-san" is most used in the real life.

I am right ?
 

chompy

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Onii-san/chan would be more common in real life yea...

If anime/dramas you will see akiki more often than in hentai, since onii is associated with lolita complex fetishism.

Neither can be deemed more or less affectionate, if a girl always calls her brother aniki, it would be strange for her to start calling him nii-san. there are probably dialectical variations that i, someone who only knows a little japanese, wouldn't be able to explain or access.
 

whitehol

New Member
Nov 17, 2006
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In general, the word Aniki(兄貴, あにき) is considered as a men's word more than a women's. It's often used when a younger brother calls his elder brother, or a yakuza member calls his senior/boss, etc.

If a girl calls her elder brother "Aniki", you can think that indicates one (or more) of the following:

(1) She is indifferent to, or even hates her elder brother. But if she is a "tsundere" character, she may pretend to hate him lest her true feeling should be known to him.

(2) She is a boyish(or masculine) character.

If a girl, who called her elder brother "Akini", starts to call him "Onii-san" or "Onii-chan", you can think she came to love him (as "a man").
 

fhc

BRASIL, Rio de Janeiro .
Dec 17, 2006
244
34
Thank you very much,whitehol.

thank you very much too, chompy.

for me, is really very important to understand these things, because I really LOVE the japanese culture, and I really want to understand everything about the japanese family behavior.
 

Dmitri

LOLIPLZ
Apr 5, 2007
104
3
Aniki is a more formal term.

It can be used to address a blood-related elder brother
OR
non-blood related elder brother figures, like the head of a gang and/or organization - if you are indeed allowed to call them with such familiarity.


But since it's written in KATAKANA, my guess is that the name serves a dual-function. Not only does it tell you of his "state" but it may be also his name.

Since from what I know with KATAKANA, it's only used with new japanese-ified words that have not yet be inculcated into the formal Japanese vocabulary

e.g. American words when directly written in Japanese, KATAKANA, not Hiragana is used.

:goodjob: