The Korean language has a system of linguistic honorifics that reflects the social status of participants.
[dubious – discuss] The current Korean custom of deciding whether to use honorifics based on age was influenced by Japanese colonial occupation era.
Before 1945, Japan operated its military and schools under a strict hierarchy, and the ranking based on age and seniority was stricter than it is now.
These elements of the Japanese military system had a great influence on South and North Korean society.
Therefore, unlike other countries, it is common in South and North Korea to frequently ask people about their age.
[3][4] The Korean language can index deference or respect toward a sentence referent in subject or dative position through the application of lexical choices such as honorific particles.
[9] Unlike the Japanese language, which allows a title to be used alone for addressing people when an honorific expression is required (e.g., 先生 (sensei) teacher, 社長 (shacho) company president, 教授 (kyojyu) professor), Korean does not allow lone titles for addressing people.
It is impolite to address someone as 사장 (sajang) president, 교수 (gyosu) professor, etc.
[12] One must use honorific sentence endings (습니다 and/or 에요/요) in a formal situation or when addressing acquaintances or strangers, regardless of their age or social status (except pre-adolescent children).
Declarative: 어/아 Interrogative: 어/아 Prepositive: 어/아 Imperative: 어/아 The setting, ages, occupations, and other factors contribute to the relations between speaker, addressee, and the referent within this system.
These include 드리다 (deurida) and 올리다 (ollida) for 주다 (juda, "give").
Although honorific form of 너 (neo, singular "you") is 당신 (dangsin, literally, "friend" or "dear"), that term is used only as a form of address in a few specific social contexts, such as between people who are married to each other, or in an ironic sense between strangers.
(e.g. seonsaengnim 선생님) Korean has the vocative case markers which grammatically identify a person (animal, object etc.)
-a / -ya is used only between close friends and people who are familiar with each other, and its use between strangers or distant acquaintances would be considered extremely rude.
Middle Korean had three classes of the vocative case but practically only -아 / -야 is remaining in everyday life.
Ssi (Hangul: 씨; Hanja: 氏) is the most commonly used honorific used amongst people of approximately equal speech level.
[14] Nim (Hangul: 님) (by itself after a proper noun) is the highest form of honorifics and above ssi.
[15][16] -nim (as an affix) is used as a commonplace honorific for guests, customers, clients, and unfamiliar individuals.
Examples include family members (eomeonim 어머님 & abeonim 아버님), teachers (seonsaengnim 선생님), clergy (e.g. pastors – moksanim 목사님), and gods (haneunim 하느님 / hananim 하나님).
Seonbae (Hangul: 선배; Hanja: 先輩) is used to address senior colleagues or mentor figures relating to oneself (e.g. older students in school, older/more experienced athletes, mentors, senior colleagues in academia, business, work, etc.).
Gun (Hangul: 군; Hanja: 君) is used moderately in formal occasions (such as weddings), for young, unmarried males.
Yang (양; 孃) is the female equivalent of gun and is used to address young girls.
In this special case, Korean do not use honorific expression on father to admire grandfather.
Therefore, in this sentence, "아버지가 (abeojiga)" is used rather than "아버지께서 (abeojikkeseo)" and "왔습니다 (watseumnida)" rather than "오셨습니다 (osyeotseumnida)".
The humble suffix has the effect of lowering the status of the speaker against the addressee, thereby increasing the degree of respect shown by the former toward the latter.
The humble suffix, is rare nowadays in Standard Seoul dialect, however, it is employed in religious services as well as historical literary or entertainment media.