what does "chan", "sama", "sam" and "kun" means japanese?

too long to explain. And since i'm not japanese either i might get it wrong. go to wikipedia -- it has a VERY detailed explanation of all of those suffixes. here're my explanations in a nutshell:

basically sama is for people ranked above you (like your master or something), or more modernly it could be used for your crush.

chan is for girls and women, and it indicates familiarity.

kun is for boys to indicate familiarity.

san could be used with anyone you're not familiar with, like strangers or people you're meeting for the first time. it can even be used to address enemies.

some other ones ~

senpai--upperclassmen

sensei -- teacher

...etc. etc. there're tons more. i really suggest you go visit the wikipedia link below. you'll know all you ever wanted to know :) it's quite interesting.

Those go after a characters name. they show the relation one person has with another. Chan is a female that you now as a friend. You could say Kiri (first name that popped into my head ^-^)was your friend. You could say "Hi Kiri Chan!" Or " whats up Kiri Chan!".Kun is used to show the same relation as Chan except it is for a boy.Sama is a more formal or respectful way to greet someone. It's like saying "good morning master Foo" (sorry Foo is a bad name isn't it >.<)Try looking it up in a foreign dictionary.

They're all honorifics added to people's names: Chan is used for friend , Kun is used to express love, sama means master, and so on.

San = It's another way of saying "Miss" or "Mister"

Sama= A more respected way of San

Kun= Usually used for boys, but it means both ways senior status or junior status. It should probably be used toward a man or boy by a girl who has known him for a while.

Chan= Used for young

Bo= Just another way of Chan. But its used for boys instead of girls

Senpai or Kohai: Senpai is for seniors, Kohai is for the reverse, meaning juniors

Sensei or Hakase: Sensei is for like teachers, polices etc. Hakase is basically between high rank and low rank. Like a.. Instead of professor it's doctor

I study japanese

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Sensei - teacher/doctor/professor

Chan - used for girls names

Kun - used for boys names

San - Mr, Mrs, etc...

Sama is a more polite way for the above.

Kohai - young student

Senpai - older student

Normally it's:

Sama-higher status

Chan-mostly used for girls

Kun-mostly used for guys

I think.

Sama-Kun-chan used for guys&girls

They are all honorifics that are added to a name.

-San is translated as "Mr." or "Mrs.". It can also be used to refer to a company or organization. Just add -san to the organization's name.

-Kun is an intimate honorific usually used between two people among males. It is used when a person of senior status addresses a person of junior status, when two people of the same age or status talk to each other, or when teachers address older males of senior status. In the classroom, boys are addressed with -kun because it is akin to addressing them as adults. Therefore, not using -kun is considered an insult in the classroom.

-Chan is used to refer to children, animals, or people whom one has not known since childhood. The use of -chan by one adult to anothr adult takes a lot of intimacy. -Chan can also be used by those who want to express affection to other people.

-Sama is a term of respect. It is used by people to refer to others that are higher than oneself in rank or to refer to customers (to show them respect) The term can also be used with God (Kami-sama).

There's also -hime, which means princess, and -dono, which refers to a samurai or a king.

I'm not sure entirely, but in the anime Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan, the males have the suffix kun (ex. Sakura-kun) and the females chan (ex. Dokuro-chan) so I would assume it has to do with genders. The other ones, not so sure of. Except Sensei is teacher.

a phew that were missed are

Bozu-an informal way to refer to a boy smilar to the english term kid or squirt

Sempai-normally addressee to a senior in the school.

Kohai-basically the opposite of -sempai used to addressee and underclassmate

sensei- literally means "one who comes before" normally used for teachers doctors or mastered of any profession or art

[blank] often forgotten in these lists but perhaps the most significant diff between japanese and english. the lack of honorific means the speaker has promession to addressee the person in a very intimate way. usally only family spouse or close friends have this permission. its known as "yobisute". it can also be insulting if one starts calling one without an honorific when the permission hasn't been earrned.

They're all endings that you can add to a name.

-chan is for friends, especially younger ones, both boys and girls, but moreoften girls. Adults also use this for kids.

-sama is very polite. Almost too polite. It's a little beyond Mr./Ms./Mrs. Sometimes it's used for fun, or in quite formal contexts.

-san is your standard ending to a name, like Mr./Mrs./Ms.

-kun is similar to -chan, but mainly used for boys, although not exculsively.