Honorific speech in Japanese
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The Japanese language has a system of honorific speech, referred to as keigo (Japanese:
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[edit]
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.[1]
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:
- 聞いていい?
- Kiite ii?
- Ok to ask (a question)?
- Kiite ii?
- 聞かせていただけると
嬉 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).
- Kikasete-itadakeru to ureshii no desu ga.
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
協 力 下 さい。
- Go-kyōryoku-kudasai.
- Your cooperation, please.
- Go-kyōryoku-kudasai.
- ご
協 力 の程 お願 い申 し上 げます。
- Go-kyōryoku no hodo o-negai mōshiagemasu.
- We respectfully request the favor of a measure of your cooperation.
- Go-kyōryoku no hodo o-negai mōshiagemasu.
This latter example includes two honorific prefixes, nominalization of a verb (for formality), a respectful form, and two humble forms.
Types of honorifics[edit]
Honorifics in Japanese, or keigo (Japanese:
For example, the standard form of the verb "to do" is suru (する). This form is appropriate with family members and close friends. The polite form of suru (する), the addressee honorific, is shimasu (します). 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 nasaru (なさる) 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 itashimasu are used. These respectful and humble words are referent honorifics, and thus can coexist with addressee honorific -masu.
Polite language[edit]
Polite language (Japanese:
Polite language can be used to refer to one's own actions or those of other people.
Respectful language[edit]
Respectful language (Japanese:
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
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, 読む, 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 hito (
Humble language[edit]
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.
Humble language (
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
- 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 (
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 hito (
Respectful verbs[edit]
meaning | dictionary form | polite (teineigo) | respectful (sonkeigo) | humble (kenjōgo) |
---|---|---|---|---|
see / look / watch | ご |
|||
meet | お |
お | ||
be (inanimate)1 | ある (aru) | あります (arimasu) | ござる (gozaru) | |
be (animate)1 | いる (iru) | います (imasu) | いらっしゃる (irassharu) | おる (oru) |
come / go1 | おいでになる (o-ide ni naru) | 伺う (ukagau, to respectful location) | ||
know | ご |
|||
eat / drink | いただく (itadaku) | |||
receive | もらう (morau) | もらいます (moraimasu) | いただく (itadaku)2 | |
give (when the receiver is respected) | あげる (ageru, once the humble form) やる (yaru, considered rude today, except in Kansai dialect) |
あげます (agemasu) | ||
give (when the giver is respected) | くれる (kureru) | くれます (kuremasu) | くださる (kudasaru) | |
do | する (suru) | します (shimasu) | なさる (nasaru) | |
say | おっしゃる (ossharu) | |||
put on (clothing) | お |
|||
sleep | お |
|||
die | お |
|||
ask | ||||
visit |
- 1 The distinction between these three verbs is lost in some respectful forms.
- 2 Both are the humble form of もらう (morau, receive); it can also be used for related verbs like
食 べる (taberu, eat) and飲 む (nomu, drink).
Word beautification[edit]
Word beautification (bikago,
- お
茶 にお煎餅 、よく合 いますね - O-cha ni o-senbei, yoku aimasu ne
- 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:
- お
宅 様 からいただいたお菓子 は大変 おいしゅうございました - O-taku-sama kara itadaita okashi wa taihen oishuugozaimashita
- The sweets you gave me were most delectable.
See the section on honorific prefixes, below, for further discussion.
Usage[edit]
Business[edit]
Honorifics are considered extremely important in a business setting. Training in honorifics usually does not take place at school or university, so company trainees are trained in correct use of honorifics to customers and superiors.
In groups and out groups[edit]
When using polite or respectful forms, the point of view of the speaker is shared by the speaker's in-group (
Mastery of politeness and honorifics is important for functioning in Japanese society. Not speaking politely enough can be insulting, and speaking too politely can be distancing (and therefore also insulting) or seem sarcastic. Children generally speak using plain informal speech, but they are expected to master politeness and honorifics by the end of their teenage years. Recent trends indicate that the importance of proper politeness is not as high as before, particularly in metropolitan areas. The standards are inconsistently applied towards foreigners, though most textbooks attempt to teach the polite style before considering to teach any of the other styles.
Intrafamilial address[edit]
Similar to how titles are used instead of personal pronouns when addressing a person of higher status, roles and kinship terms are used in intrafamilial settings where one can refer to other family members by using their role in relation to the speaker instead of a personal pronoun. For example, older relatives cannot be addressed as anata, kimi or simply by their name alone. Instead, a term denoting their relationship with the speaker or their name suffixed by an appropriate kinship term is used, such as otōsan when speaking to one's father. Those younger than the speaker can generally be addressed by using personal pronouns or their name. Thus, the choice of whether a family member can be addressed by using a personal pronoun, their name or their role is dependent on the position of the speaker within the family.[6]
Gender differences[edit]
Depending on the situation, women's speech may contain more honorifics than men's. In particular, in informal settings, women are more likely to use polite vocabulary and honorific prefixes, such as gohan o taberu to mean "eat rice", whereas men may use less polite vocabulary such as meshi o kū with exactly the same meaning. This is part of a general pattern of speech differences by sex. However, in many settings, such as in customer service, there will be little or no difference between male and female speech.
Grammatical overview[edit]
Japanese has grammatical functions to express several different pragmatic registers. Not only politeness but also respectfulness, humility and formality can be expressed.
Expressing politeness[edit]
There are three levels of politeness, plain or direct (
plain | plain formal | polite | polite formal | very polite formal |
---|---|---|---|---|
これは kore wa hon da. |
これは kore wa hon dearu. |
これは kore wa hon desu. |
これは kore wa hon de arimasu. |
これは kore wa hon de gozaimasu. |
The informal style is used among friends, the distal or polite style by inferiors when addressing superiors and among strangers or casual acquaintances, and the formal style generally in writing or prepared speeches. The plain formal and informal styles of verbs are nearly identical, with a few grammatical differences, such as the verb de aru being used as a formal copula, and the preferential usage of verb stems to connect clauses instead of the "te form". Formal language in Japanese also uses different vocabulary and structures from informal language.
In some contexts, where both the imperfective (incomplete: present/future) and perfective (complete: past) tenses are acceptable, the perfective is considered more polite. This is only at the completion of an activity; common examples are ありがとうございました arigatō gozaimashita "thank you (for a completed favor)", ご
Expressing respect[edit]
Further to this, there is another factor, respect, which is indicated in yet other ways.
For each politeness level there are two respectful forms (
- The respect language (
尊敬 語 , sonkeigo) form shows respect to the subject of the sentence. - The humble language (
謙譲 語 , kenjōgo) form gives respect to the (direct or indirect) object or to the listener by a variety of means, the most common being to humble the speaker.
These respectful forms are represented by different verb endings. Since verbs come at the end of the sentence in Japanese, most of the factors of formality, politeness, and respect are expressed at the very end of each sentence.
Plain form | ジョンさんが Jon san ga Satō san o matsu.
|
Respect for subject | Sensei ga o-machi-ni-naru.
|
Respect for object | Sensei o o-machi-suru.
|
The o-machi-suru humble forms carry an implication that the waiting or other activity is being (humbly) done by the speaker for the benefit of the person being addressed. Thus a humble sentence is unlikely to take a third person subject. For example, a sentence like jon ga sensei o o machi suru (John waits for the teacher) is unlikely to occur.
Honorific titles[edit]
Honorific suffixes and prefixes are used when referring to others in a conversation. They reflect not only the level of politeness chosen, but also the relative social rank or the degree of intimacy between people. For example, a person might refer to their classmate or colleague as Asada-san ("Mr./Ms. Asada"), but to their little son as Hideyo-chan ("lil' Hideyo"). Referring to somebody without using a honorific is a sign of great informality or intimacy.
The most common honorifics include:
Honorific | Approximate equivalent | Used for |
---|---|---|
San (さん) | Mr. / Ms. | Adults of equal status, informally and formally |
Sama ( |
Sir / Ma'am | People of higher status (including deities, guests, customers) |
Kun ( |
Boy, bro | People of junior status, boys, or among male friends |
Chan (ちゃん) | Little... | Small children, something or somebody cute, close friends |
Tan (たん) | Widdle... | Babies, moe anthropomorphisms |
Senpai ( |
– | Senior colleague or classmate |
Sensei ( |
Mr./Dr./Professor/etc. | Authority figures (teachers, doctors, lawyers, authors...) |
Requests[edit]
Japanese requests and commands have many set forms depending on who is being addressed by whom. For example, the phrase "I ask your favor" (よろしくお
- よろしく
頼 む - yoroshiku tanomu
which might be used between male friends. Its more polite variant
- よろしく
頼 みます - yoroshiku tanomimasu
might be used towards less familiar people or to superiors.
Going up in politeness, the phrase
- よろしくお
願 いします - yoroshiku o-negai shimasu
means the same thing, but is used in business settings. It is possible to go further, replacing the polite shimasu (します) with the humble itashimasu (
- よろしくお
願 い致します - yoroshiku o-negai itashimasu.
In extremely formal Japanese, such as that used on New Year's greeting cards, this may be replaced with an even more polite expression
- よろしくお
願 い申 し上 げます - yoroshiku o-negai mōshiagemasu.
When making requests, at the bottom of the politeness scale comes the plain imperative "tabero" (「
Negatives are formed by adding suffix na: taberu na "do not eat", gomi o suteru na: "do not throw away rubbish". Similarly, the negative of da, ja nai, can be used: taberu n ja nai.
More polite, but still strict, is the nasai suffix, which attaches to the i-form of the verb. This originates in the polite verb nasaru. Tabenasai thus is an order perhaps given by a parent to a child. This is often colloquially shortened to na, hence tabena. This form has no grammatical negative.
Requests can also be formed by adding to the "te" form of a verb. The plainest form adds kure, an irregular form of the verb kureru, to the te form. For example, tabete kure or kutte kure: "eat it", less forceful than "tabero". Negatives are made by using the negative "te" form: tabenaide kure or kuwanaide kure "don't eat it".
Going up one scale in politeness, the more polite verb kudasai is added. For example, tabete kudasai. With this polite form, the rough kū verb is unlikely to be used. Similarly, tabenaide kudasai: "please don't eat it".
A similar entry on the scale of politeness is made by using the imperative form of a polite verb. For example, meshiagaru, the polite verb for "to eat", when turned into meshiagare, the imperative, becomes the response to the set phrase itadakimasu.
Further, more polite forms are also possible. These involve the "i-form" of the verb rather than the "te form", and an honorific prefix (see honorific prefixes: verbs, below). Beyond simply increased politeness, this form is more formal, and is used when addressing a group, or as a general instruction, rather than directed at a particular person. For example, tsukau, "use", becomes o tsukai kudasai: "please use this". In the case of phrasal verbs the honorific o appears before the entire phrase, not simply the verb, as in o-ki (w)o tsuke-kudasai (お
Other ways to increase politeness involve indirection of the request: kore o tsukau you ni o negai shimasu: "I humbly request that you think about using this".
Honorific prefixes[edit]
The bikago (beautifying) prefixes o- (お〜) and go- (ご〜) (both written with the character
These prefixes are used for two purposes: to speak respectfully about a stranger or social superior's family, belongings, or actions (as part of
Prefix usage[edit]
Although these honorific prefixes are often translated into English as "honorable" ("o-denwa," for example, would be given as "the honorable telephone") this translation is unwieldy and cannot convey the true feeling of their use in Japanese. These prefixes are essentially untranslatable, but their use indicates a polite respect for the item named or the person to or about whom one is speaking. A shorter translation is "dear"—for example, o-ko-san, お
As with honorific word forms and titles, honorific prefixes are used when referring to or speaking with a social superior, or speaking about a superior's actions or possessions, but not usually when referring to oneself or one's own actions or possessions, or those of one's in-group.
For example, when referring to one's own order at a restaurant, one would use chūmon, but when referring to a customer's order, the restaurant staff would use go-chūmon. Similarly, kazoku means "my family," while go-kazoku means "your family" (or, broadly speaking, someone else's family).
There are some words which frequently or always take these prefixes, regardless of who is speaking and to whom; these are often ordinary items which may have particular cultural significance, such as tea (o-cha) and rice (go-han). The word meshi, the Japanese equivalent of Sino-Japanese go-han, is considered rough and masculine (
In rare cases, both a base form and honorific are in use with different readings. A notable example is
Honorific prefixes can be used for other items, possibly for a comic or sarcastic effect (for example, o-kokakōra, "honorable Coca-Cola"). Overuse of honorific prefixes may be taken as pretentious or simpering, and, as with other polite speech, they are more used by women than men.
In tea ceremony, common ingredients and equipment always take the honorific o- or go-, including water (o-mizu), hot water (o-yu), and tea bowls (o-chawan). However, these terms are often heard in daily life as well.
Foreign loanwords (gairaigo, except those that come from Chinese; see above) seldom take honorifics, but when they do o- seems to be preferable to go-. Examples are o-bīru (bīru: beer), which can sometimes be heard at restaurants, o-kādo (kādo: card, as in credit card or point card), which is often heard at supermarkets and department stores, and o-sōsu (sōsu: sauce).
Verbs[edit]
For verbs, a respectful request—or rather a polite command—addressed to a group may be formed by using
The respectful prefix can also be used in honorific verbs, when speaking about a superior, in which case it is formed by o-, followed by the masu-stem, followed by -ni-naru (〜になる) (suitably conjugated), as in o-kaeri-ni-narimashita (お
Female names[edit]
O- was also commonly used as an honorific prefix to female given names in pre-war Japan, particularly in combination with dropping common suffixes such as -ko (-こ) (-
Rare forms[edit]
There is also a rarer prefix mi- (kun'yomi), which is mostly used in words related to gods and the emperor, such as mi-koshi (
The honorific prefix generally does not fall in the middle. In compounds, where the honorific would fall in the middle, the honorific is almost always dropped. For example, お
Rarely,
The character
Another prefix, pronounced o- (お〜) and potentially confused with
In one case, a triple honorific prefix may used, namely in the word o-mi-o-tsuke, a polite term for miso soup, which is ordinarily referred to as miso-shiru (
English analogs[edit]
While English has different registers, its levels of formality and politeness are not as formalized or as clearly defined as in Japanese. However, they can be instructive in gaining a feel for Japanese speech. English imperatives range from very blunt ("Give me the book"), to very indirect and elaborate ("If it's not too much trouble, could you please be so kind as to pass me the book?"—note the use of potential form, as in Japanese).
Similarly, changes in word use can make language more flowery or respectful—rather than "Do you know?", one might say "Are you familiar with?" or "Are you acquainted with?", which convey some of the feel of
Humble language is less common in modern English, but is found in some contexts, such as guests saying "I am honored to be here," (rather than "I am glad to be here" or "I am happy to be here") and in various valedictions such as "Sincerely", which were formerly more formal and humble, with such forms as "I am, Sir, your most humble and obedient servant," and the like.
Some scholars argue that while honorific usage is necessarily affected by culturally specific values systems, the linguistic principles regulating its usage are not necessarily distinct from those of other languages, including honorific-poor languages such as English.[9]
Manual keigo[edit]
Some convenience stores and fast-food restaurants teach their young and part-time employees to verbally interact with customers in strictly prescribed ways laid down in instruction manuals. These forms of speech are known as マニュアル
See also[edit]
- Aizuchi (
相槌 aizuchi) - Japanese grammar
- Japanese language
- Japanese names
- Japanese pronouns
- Korean honorifics
- Honorifics (linguistics)
- Thai honorifics
- Japanese etiquette
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Sturtzsreetharan, Cindi L. (2009). "Ore and omae". Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association. 19 (2): 253–278. doi:10.1075/prag.19.2.06stu.
- ^ Keigo Ronko, Tsujimura 1992, ISBN 978-4-625-42077-1, p. 98
- ^ Language change in East Asia, Thomas E. McAuley, p. 51
- ^ Tsujimura 1992, pp. 173–174
- ^ McAuley, p. 67, footnote 12
- ^ Suzuki, Takao (2001). Words in Context: A Japanese Perspective on Language and Culture. Kodansha International. pp. 127–131. ISBN 477002780X.
- ^ Genki II, Chapter 19–2 "Giving Respectful Advice", p. 140
- ^ Genki II, Chapter 19–1 "Giving Respectful Advice", p. 138–140
- ^ Pizziconi Barbara (2011) Japanese honorifics: the cultural specificity of a universal mechanism, in Politeness in East Asia - Theory and Practice, Sara Mills and Dániel Z. Kádár (eds.), Cambridge University Press: 45-70