The Japanese language has a system of honorific speech, referred to as , parts of speech one function of which is to show that the speaker wants to convey respect for either the listener or someone mentioned in the utterance. Their use is widely seen in a variety of business or formal social situations. Honorifics in Japanese can also be used to show unfamiliarity (social distance), or they can be used to show that the speaker is cultured and sophisticated enough to have mastered the ins and outs of the system.Wetzel, P. J. (2004). Keigo in modern Japan: Polite language from Meiji to the present. University of Hawaii Press. Japanese honorific titles, often simply called honorifics, consist of suffixes and prefixes when referring to others in a conversation.
The system is very extensive, having its own special vocabulary and grammatical forms to express various levels of respectful, humble, and polite speech. It closely resembles other honorifics systems found in the East Asian cultural sphere, such as honorifics in Korean.
Introduction Japanese uses honorific constructions to show or emphasize social rank, social intimacy or similarity in rank. The choice of pronoun used, for example, will express the social relationship between the person speaking and the person being referred to, and Japanese often avoids pronouns entirely in favor of more explicit titles or kinship terms.
Honorific speech is often longer, and sometimes much longer, than more direct speech. Some extreme, but not uncommon, examples include the following:
When asking a question: the first is casually between friends, the second is a junior person asking a superior in a formal meeting: いていい？ Kiite ii? Ok to ask (a question)? かせていただけるとしいのですが。 Kikasete-itadakeru to ureshii no desu ga. I would, however, be delighted if I may be permitted to ask (a question).
When asking for cooperation: the first is usual and polite, the latter is very formal, but often found in writing, especially in posters or flyers. ごさい。 Go-kyōryoku-kudasai. Your cooperation, please. ごのおいしげます。 Go-kyōryoku no hodo o-negai mōshiagemasu. We respectfully request the favor of a measure of your cooperation. This latter example includes two honorific prefixes, nominalization of a verb (for formality), a respectful form, and two humble forms.
Types of honorifics
Honorifics in Japanese, or , fall under three main categories: , , and , also translated as modest language. is more rarely called , being an alternative word for "humility, modesty". Linguistically the first is an addressee honorific, used for someone being talked to, and the latter two are referent honorifics, used for someone being talked about. Sometimes two more categories are also used, for a total of five categories: and , but more often these are included in the above three: teichōgo as a kind of humble language, bikago as a kind of polite language. These two other categories use the same forms as the general categories, but are used in different contexts, and therefore are differentiated by some linguists. Each type of speech has its own vocabulary and verb endings.
For example, the standard form of the verb "to do" is . This form is appropriate with family members and close friends. The polite form of , the addressee honorific, is . This form is appropriate in most daily interactions. When showing respect, such as when talking about a customer or a superior, however, the respectful word and its polite form nasaimasu are used, and when referring to one's own actions or the actions of a group member, the humble word itasu and its polite form are used. These respectful and humble words are referent honorifics, and thus can coexist with addressee honorific -masu.
Polite language
is characterized by the use of the sentence ending desu (です) and the verb ending masu (ます) and the use of prefixes such as o (お) and go (ご) towards neutral objects. Television presenters invariably use polite language, and it is the form of the language first taught to most non-native learners of Japanese.
Polite language can be used to refer to one's own actions or those of other people.
Respectful language
is a special form or alternative word used when talking about superiors and customers. It is not used to talk about oneself. For example, when a Japanese hairdresser or dentist requests their client to take a seat, they say "O-kake ni natte kudasai" (「おけになってください」) to mean "Please sit down". However, they would use the verb rather than "O-kake ni naru" (「おけになる」) to refer to themselves sitting down. The respectful version of language can only be used to refer to others.
In general, respectful language is directed at those in positions of power; for example, a superior at work, or a customer. It also implies that the speaker is acting in a professional capacity.
It is characterized by lengthy polite expressions. Common verbs may be replaced by more polite alternative verbs, for example, する, suru (do) by なさる, nasaru, or 話す, hanasu (talk) by おっしゃる ossharu when the subject is a person of respect. Some of these transformations are many-to-one: く, iku (go), る, kuru (come), and いる, iru (be) all become いらっしゃる, irassharu, and べる, taberu (eat) and む, nomu (drink) both become しがる, meshiagaru.
Verbs may also be changed to respectful forms. One respectful form is a modification of the verb with a prefix and a polite suffix. For example, む, yomu (read) becomes o-yomi ni naru, with the prefix o- added to the i-form of the verb, and the verb ending ni naru. The verb ending -(r)areru can also be used, such as yomareru.
Nouns also undergo substitution to express respect. The normal Japanese word for person becomes in respectful language. Thus, a customer would normally be expected to be referred to as a kata rather than a hito.
Humble language
In general, humble language is used when describing one's actions or the actions of a person in one's in-group to others such as customers in business. Humble language tends to imply that one's actions are taking place in order to assist the other person.
is similar to respectful language, in substituting verbs with other forms. For example: suru (do) becomes itasu, and morau (receive) becomes itadaku. These two verbs are also seen in set phrases such as dō itashimashite (you're welcome) and itadakimasu (いただきます—a phrase said before eating or drinking).
Similar to respectful language, verbs can also change their form by adding a prefix and the verb "suru" or "itasu". For example, motsu (carry) becomes o mochi shimasu. The use of humble forms may imply doing something for the other person; thus a Japanese person might offer to carry something for someone else by saying o mochi shimasu. This type of humble form also appears in the set phrase o matase shimashita, "I am sorry to have kept you waiting", from mataseru (make wait) with the addition of o and shimasu. Similarly, o negai shimasu, "please [do this]", from negau (request or hope for), again with the addition of o and shimasu.
Even more politely, the form motasete itadaku literally means "humbly be allowed to carry". This phrase would be used to express the idea that "I will carry it if you please."
A distinction may also be made between humble speech where the intent is to raise up the recipient of an action, and where there is no specific recipient of the action, lowering the speaker instead with respect to the listener, as in the common phrase 電車が参ります (densha ga mairimasu "a train is arriving") at rail stations. In the case, the train itself (as an extension of the railway company) is not lowered with respect to a specific recipient of the action of arrival; the humble language is merely a courtesy to the passengers hearing the announcement, whom the company is raising up by lowering itself. Some linguists distinguish this from kenjōgo (whose purpose is to raise up the recipient of a polite action by lowering the speaker), calling it instead teichōgo (丁重語) "courteous language", and defining it formally as:Keigo Ronko, Tsujimura 1992, , p. 98Language change in East Asia, Thomas E. McAuley, p. 51 Honorifics by which the Speaker shows consideration to the hearer through all expressions of the subject matter. This category was first proposed by Hiroshi Miyachi (宮地裕).Tsujimura 1992, pp. 173–174McAuley, p. 67, footnote 12 Teichōgo, as an addressee honorific, is always used with the teineigo (-masu) form, the politeness sequence (using "go" as an example) being 行く, 行きます, 参ります (iku, ikimasu, mairimasu).
In humble language, name suffixes are dropped when referring to people from inside one's group. Thus, Japanese-speaking company executives would introduce themselves and their team by saying "I am Gushiken, the president, and this is Niwa, the CEO", dropping the honorific that would otherwise be expected when referring to another person.
Similarly to respectful language, nouns can also change. The word , meaning "person", becomes . The humble version is used when referring to oneself or members of one's group, such as one's company; when humble language is split into the dual classification above, this is a kind of teichōgo (丁重語) as a courtesy to the out-group listener.
Respectful verbs
+ Irregular respectful verb forms meaning dictionary form polite (teineigo) respectful (sonkeigo) humble (kenjōgo) see / look / watch meet be (inanimate)1 be (animate)1 come / go1 know eat / drink receive 22 give (when the receiver is respected) give (when the giver is respected) do say put on (clothing) sleep die ask visit
1 The distinction between these three verbs is lost in some respectful forms. 2 Both are the humble form of ; it can also be used for related verbs like and .
Word beautification
Word beautification (, , "beautified speech", in also sometimes , , "elegant speech") is the practice of making words more polite or "beautiful". This form of language is employed by the speaker to add refinement to one's manner of speech. Patricia Wetzel has pointed out that many of the Japanese grammarians who write about "beautification" are not talking about a set of specific forms in Japanese, but rather the pragmatic function of much of keigo that helps the person using it sound cultured or sophisticated. One aspect of keigo is adding the prefix or to a word and used in conjunction with the polite form of verbs. In the following example, before and and the polite form of the verb are used to this effect. Generally is used before native Japanese words and is used before Sino-Japanese words, but there are exceptions.
Tea and rice crackers go well (together), don't they?
In finer classifications, the above example is classified as word beautification—rather than honorific speech—as the speaker is voicing a general opinion regarding tea and rice crackers and is not intentionally deferential towards the listener. In the following example, the speaker is directly referring to the listener and items received by them and is regarded as honorific language:
The sweets you gave me were most delectable.
See the section on honorific prefixes, below, for further discussion.
Usage
Business
Honorifics are considered extremely important in a business setting. Training in honorifics usually does not take place at school or university, but directly at the company.
In groups and out groups
When using polite or respectful forms, the point of view of the speaker is shared by the speaker's in-group (内 uchi), so in-group referents do not take honorifics. For example, members of one's own company are referred to with humble forms when speaking with an external person; similarly, family members of the speaker are referred to humbly when speaking to guests. Similarly, the out-group (外 soto) addressee or referent is always mentioned in the polite style (though not necessarily with honorifics).