i keep seeing people getting a little confused about the titles and terms used in rotbb so i thought id make a quick little guide on the more common titles and pre/suffixes used in the novel/manhwa
for minor context, members of a sect may take on the names that denote which generation they come from within the sect (current mount hua consists of, in order from eldest to youngest, the hyun line, the un line, the baek line, and the chung line, though the true generational naming convention would have typically been chung > myung > hyun > un > baek, which would then repeat in a cycle) however taking on a generational name isnt necessarily required/enforced (ex. yu iseol, yoon jong, jo gul, etc do not take on generational names)
in his previous life, because chung myung was raised in the sect since infancy, he took on the chung generational name as his ‘birth’ name, as the chung line was the generation he was raised in. when he reenters mount hua post resurrection, he becomes a third class disciple, aka the current era chung disciples
jangmun: sect leader, jangmun'in is used when speaking directly to the sect leader (ex. hyun jong, chung mun)
sasuk: senior martial brother, used by disciples of a different rank to senior disciples of higher ranking (ex. the chung disciples referring to the baek disciples, the baek/chung disciples referring to the un disciples)
sajil: junior martial brother, used by disciples of a different rank to junior disciples of a lower ranking (ex. the un disciples referring to the baek/chung disciples, the baek disciples referring to the chung disciples)
sasukjo: great martial uncle, used by disciples referring to the line above sasuk
sajo: martial grandparent/ancestor
sason: martial grandchild/descendant
sahyung: senior martial brother, used by disciples within the same rank to disciples who entered the sect earlier than them (aka chung myung referring to the elder chung disciples, chung disciples referring to yoon jong)
sajae: junior martial brother, used by disciples within the same rank to disciples who entered the sect after them (ex. the chung disciples referring to the chung disciples)
sajeo: senior martial sister, same as sahyung but used for women
sago: senior martial sister, same as sasuk but used for women (ex. tang soso referring to yu iseol)
samae: junior martial sister, same as sajae but used for women (ex. baek cheon referring to yu iseol)
dojang: disciple (ex. older characters use this to refer to chung myung/disciples of a sect)
hyung: meaning older brother, used by males when referring to their older brother or to an older male colleague one is friendly with
hyeonja-bae: referring to the hyun generation
unja-bae: referring to the un generation
baekja-bae: referring to the baek generation
cheongja-bae: referring to the chung generation
maehwa geomjon: plum blossom sword saint
hwasan shinryong: mount huas divine dragon
maknae: used to refer to the youngest person in a group of people
-ah: a suffix that denotes casual familiarity typically used for those who are younger than the speaker or are of the same social standing, used at the end of a name if the name ends in a consonant (ex. hyun jong calls chung myung ‘chung myung'ah’)
-ya: a suffix that denotes casual familiarity typically used for those who are younger than the speaker or are of the same social standing, used at the end of a name if the name ends in a vowel (ex. chung myung calls tang bo ‘tang bo'ya’)
-nim: a respectful suffix that essentially means mr/mrs/miss
dosa: meaning taoist (ex. tang bo typically refers to chung myung as hyung nim/dosa hyung/dosa hyung nim)
-jon: a title given to martial artists who have mastered their respective martial arts perfectly, the most honourable title a warrior could get, translated to as ‘saint’ in the novel or 'supreme' in the manhwa (ex. plum blossom sword saint, dark saint)
please keep in mind however im not fluent in korean nor am i fully familiar w these terms of address and am using my knowledge of chinese honorifics and titles as they follow a similar formula.. if ive mislabeled something or used an unfaithful/misleading description, or if you just have more to add that i havent listed, please lmk!
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