Suffix -chan related to German -chen and Dutch -ke(n) ?
Japanese is an Altaic language. It is related first to Korean, then Mongol, then Turkic languages. Suffixes are common in all these languages. European languages do not have suffixes like Tanaka-san, Satou-kun or Hiromi-chan. German and Dutch are exceptions. Both have a nearly perfect equivalent for the familiar and affective diminutive -chan. Germans use -chen, as in Gretchen (little Greta). The Dutch/Flemish say -ke or -ken, as in manneken (little boy) or with a given name (Tinne -> Tinneke).
The similarity is striking. It looks the same, and means the same. The Dutch usage is especially widespread. By chance, the Dutch were also the only Europeans allowed to trade and exchange cultural ideas and learning with the Japanese during the Edo period. Could it be that the Japanese copied the -ken and transposed it to -chan ? I know that it cannot be the other way round, because -ken has been use since medieval times in Dutch (well before the first contacts with Japan).
Or would Dutch and German have inherited this from ancient invaders who spoke an Altaic language, like the Huns ? The Huns were after all closely associated with Germanic tribes and merged with them at one point. It could be one of the few words that they left behind them in Europe.
If it is just a coincidence, it really is a good one.
Wow! Fount of all knowledge.
AJsan, Your quotes...
"Except -chan is a rather late arrival in the honorifics category, generally being considered a corruption of -san, which itself is a corruption of the older -sama."
"Considering how *few* Japanese had access or exposure to the Dutch, that is REALLY far-fetched.'
"Judging from this, and your thread suggesting katakana were derived from European letters, I think you have a misguided and somewhat simplistic view of Japanese...."
AJ ... I read your bio on your website, and I suggest others do too.
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/
Impressive. But why are you so judgemental? What are your sources? Are you the Supreme Knowledge Keeper of Japanese history, along with your other distinguished titles?
Could anyone else have an alternative view? Such as, the Egyptians had similar "suffixes of endearment", which predated your answers by ??? 2500 years or so... eeee-gads... Somebody giving ANOTHER opinion?!
Just my humble opinion, but I think you are being too harsh.
Harmonize maybe?