Ben Finney wrote:
> In sci.lang.japan, Squark <top.squark@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>How well are the casual / respectful forms of words for family
>>members distinguished in the writing? For instance, I saw both
>>母さん and お母さん written. Are both of the forms correct and
>>pronounced おかあさん? If only 母 is written, is it always
>>pronounced はは, or can it stand for おかあさん as well?
>>
>>Another question: is おかあさま　more respectful than おかあさん, or
>>equally respectful? Also, is it correct to write it 母様 / お母様
>>(this is what IME makes of it)?
> 
> 
> In increasing order of distance:
> 
>     母          はは
>     母さん      かあさん
>     お母さん    おかあさん
>     お母様      おかあさま
> 
> It may help to know that the "honorific お" (お母さん, お弁当) and the
> "honorific ご" (ご主人, ごはん) both come from the kanji 御. [...]

"Come from"?  How could a pure Japanese form come from a kanji?

Bart