Different Way Of Speaking When Talking To A Superior?

[Baburra]

Is it true that there are Japanese phrases and words used solely for when talking to a senior either in age or rank in work? I'm sure there are, as I do know they use "sang" as a suffix instead of "san" for when speaking to an equal, or for casual conversations. Are there more notable differences besides this, like changes in tones and phrases or manner of speaking?

[BWL]

I'm not a native speaker but I can say that, having worked in a Japanese company for over 3 years, superiors are referred to by titles like "Shachou" etc. There are suffixes used in casual conversation or when addressing younger people like "-kun" for boys and "-chan" for girls that replace "san". The full formal version of "san" is "sama" and is now used only to refer to royalty.

[j_evemstar]

When in business, Japanese use keigo. This is actually the aspect of Japanese language that I really find difficulty. Like English, the longer the sentences are, the politer they get (or maybe it's just me). In any case, yes honorifics become different as the ranks go higher.

[linguaholic]

It is not just you, j-evemstar. Many others are struggling with Keigo as well, as you can see here.

http://linguaholic.com/japanese-language-general-discussion-thread/what-aspect-of-learning-japanese-has-been-the-most-challenging-for-you/

It really must be one of the most difficult aspects of the Japanese language.

[13vinylinfants]

Many Japanese even struggle with keigo. Some companies even formally train their new recruits in how to talk to their superiors and people from other companies. The rules regarding employees of other companies are even more complicated than rules regarding your superior. The good thing is that since keigo gives even Japanese people trouble, you'll be forgiven if you make a mistake. As long as you make an effort to speak politely - even just using desu/masu - you'll be fine in most situations.