At the store the other day, a toddler walked by and called me おじさん. I know this is a generic "mister" for children toward middle-aged adults. I'm wondering if there's an equivalent generic word for adults toward children?
Answer
There are several generic word for children, and we can call toddlers like:
ぼく (Only for boys, popular)
わたし (Not only but especially for girls)
Example:
ぼくはどこからきたの? (Where did you come from?)
ぼく/わたしのおなまえは? (What's your name?)
Additionally, for schoolchildren (older than toddlers), we can call them [君]{きみ}. Usage of 君 is really wide. With 君, you can call persons younger than you.
Example:
[君]{きみ}はどこから[来]{き}たの? (Where did you come from?)
EDIT
Robert's question
Q. ぼく would sound as if I was referring to myself.
Why Japanese people call toddler boy ぼく is that, the usage of original 僕, a FIRST person pronoun, had been varied in long Japanese history.
Some SECOND person pronouns are imported from first person pronouns. Examples are: お[前]{まえ}, [手前]{てまえ} (てめえ). Case of ぼく can also be applied to this, but this is a special case anyway. You can say ぼく only for toddler boys.
Some additional suggestion
As you can read in comments, お[兄]{にい}ちゃん and お[姉]{ねえ}ちゃん can be used in some case but it can't be used for toddlers. [坊]{ぼう}や is more suitable for this toddler case. [坊主]{ぼうず} sounds funny and can also be used but it sounds rough.
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