Haikyuu Characters' Informal & Formal Speech
Something I find interesting about different languages and cultures regarding sociolinguistics is the entire idea of formality. Of course, there are ways to sound more formal/polite in English and ways to sound more informal/rude depending on word choice (synonyms). But with a language such as Japanese, it's the grammatical structure itself (verb endings, vocab) that changes to convey varying levels of formality.
An example would be:
大丈夫? (informal) vs 大丈夫ですか?(formal) = Are you ok?
daijoubu vs daijoubudesuka
これは本だ (informal) vs これは本です (formal) = This is a book.
korewahonda vs korewahondesu
In a school setting, the younger grades (kohai) will use formal speech with the older grades (senpai) as well as teachers: meaning 1st years will be formal to 2nd and 3rd years, 2nd years will be informal to 1st years but formal to 3rd years, and 3rd years can be informal to both 1st and 2nd years.
This is easily shown in basically any anime but this post will focus on Haikyuu since it's the one I'm most familiar with.
Karasuno: Kageyama and Tsukishima definitely hold a very high level of politeness towards their senpai as they always speak formally towards them and also always call them "full surname-san" (Azumane-san instead of Asahi-san, Sugawara-san instead of Suga-san, Sawamura-san instead of Daichi-san, Nishinoya-san instead of Noya-san). It makes sense for them since in general their personalities are quite strict and rigid. Hinata also speaks formally to his senpai but calls them by their more usual names (Daichi-san, Suga-san, etc) and he tends to forget to speak formally out of sheer excitement (not because he's trying to be rude) so he ends up adding on the formal desu copula to quickly change his informal sentence to be formal at the last second. You might think that Tanaka and Nishinoya are pretty relaxed when it comes to formalities due to their crasser personalities but I would actually say it's more the opposite. They're both characters that really like upholding the entire senpai-kohai relationship and it shows in that they are always respectful to the 3rd years and use formal speech (it's also shown in how they both loveee being called senpai and specifically Nishinoya's relationship with Asahi). They still call the 3rd years by their more common names so they aren't as rigid as Tsukki and Kageyama when it comes to names though. The scenes in season 1 when Noya and Asahi were fighting (specifically the storage room fight) were surprising in particular due to Noya changing to informal speech while arguing with Asahi (his senpai).
some other random formalities I've noticed in the other characters: as mentioned in the anime, Kenma doesn't like any of that hierarchy stuff which is why Hinata is able to continue comfortably speaking informally to him even though Kenma is a senpai. The shock and immediate apology of Hinata when he finds out Kenma is older than him is sensible in the cultural context since there are many people who would get quite offended and angry if a kohai were to be speaking informally towards them. Although Kenma is never shown directly talking to any 3rd years (other than Kuroo, which he speaks informally to since they're childhood friends), I assume he would still speak formally since even though he doesn't find formal speech necessary he would still be aware that others would care about it. When it comes to Mad Dog, a small part of me expected him to be completely informal to everyone since those kind of characters are usually like that in anime but he still keeps a pretty formal tone when talking to his senpais which pleasantly surprised me. As far as I remember watching season 4, I don't think the Miya twins use formal speech when talking to Aran. They don't call him Aran-san or anything either, just Aran-kun, which could be another example of childhood friends not needing formalities even with the age gap.
If anybody wants a particular character/school to be discussed in detail then just send me an ask and I'll try!
side note: this post isn't proofread so if theres any mistakes or corrections in the info please tell me (✿◠‿◠)
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my classic piece for @kagehinabigbang in collaboration with @confuzzledsani, @morgendaemmerung89, and @/ermdelconcrete on twitter!
you can read the fic by confuzzledsani here
and more art by morgendaemmerung89 here!
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haikyuu x m!nezuko!reader? Readers always chewing on bread, giving free headpats and doesn’t talk much. Could be karasunos manager? Everyone loves them and shit (I don’t know how to make requests)😭
Title: the cute manager
Fandom haikyuu!!!
Warnings: male reader, fluff, cute, reader has personality of Nezuko
Notes: none
☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️🩷☁️
(Name) munched on some sweet bread as he watched the practice match, water bottles beside him as Kiyoko and Yachi went over their notes, neither paying the other teen to much mind as you see, (name) was mainly here for moral support and because Daichi was incredibly over protective of his younger brother.
"Oh, thank you (name)" Kiyoko said as the two girls were offered bread by the other, somehow he had an endless supply of sweet bread "he makes it himself in the mornings" was what Daichi said once but this much?
"(Name)? Could you be a dear and refill the water bottles with cold water?" Yachi asked the other who looked excited and determined, nodding with little sparkles around him as he took the container filled with water bottles and darted out "we didn't..tell him where it was yet" oh boy, well hopefully he comes back.
The training camp was huge, the other schools playing or doing their own thing as (name) wandered around trying to find where to fill the water bottles "oh? Is that the younger Sawamura?" (Name) looked over at the voices go see oikawa and kuroo looking at him and (name) set the container down and waved, munching on bread as the two captains wandered to him "long time no see shorty!" Kuroo teased as oikawa mumbled something about stealing him to Aoba joasai but all who knew of his brother knew that it would be a very stupid idea.
After all, who dares take karasunos mascot?
"Still eating bread I see?"
Nod nod
"Where are you off too?" Oikawa asked and (name) pointed his thumb to the bottles and the two nodded.
(Name) was hoisted onto Kuroos back as oikawa held the bottles,(name)s shortness making him easy for lifting and carrying "oh... I'm out of bread..." (Name) mumbled as they got to the water spot kuroo setting him down as the two captains looked curious, rarely did anyone hear (name) speak as kuroo barked out a laugh "of course that's what you worry about!" As kuroo patted his head, the captains helping him with his water bottles before letting him go back to his team where Tanaka whined "(name)! There you are!" The bald teen was on the bench holding ice to his head, whining about needing their precious mascot to help him as (name) wandered to his bag and pulled out two rolls of bread and shoved one on his mouth before giving Tanaka one, patting his head happily.
'fuzzy wuzzy was a bear...' (name) thought jokingly as Tanaka praised him.
(Name) returned to his spot as the team chugged their water and chatted with fukurodani about their plays, (name) listening as Tanaka and Hinata rabled about their plays.
Just a normal day for (name).
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