|
The Japanese language distinguishes levels of formality both lexically and grammatically. Moreover, respect is tightly woven into the language at morphological and stylistic level, and includes a fairly elaborate system of honorifics and discourse tactics. This article is a companion to the more detailed article on Japanese grammar, but can be of independent interest.
Grammatical overview
The descriptors politeness and formality are not used consistently by scholars, and are essentially interchangeable. In modern Japanese four discrete levels of politeness can be distinguished, which are referred to as informal (常体 joutai), distal (敬体 keitai), polite (丁寧 teinei), and formal in this article. For example, for the sentence "this is a book":
| informal | distal | polite | formal
|
これは本だ。
kore wa hon da.
| これは本です。
kore wa hon desu.
| これは本でございます。
kore wa hon de gozaimasu.
| これは本である。
kore wa hon de aru.
|
These levels of politeness apply to all expressions in Japanese, and are independent of respect (which is indicated in different ways). The informal style is used among friends, the distal style among strangers or casual acquaintances, the polite style by inferiors when addressing superiors, and the formal style generally in writing or prepared speeches. The formal and informal styles are often identical.
For each politeness level there are two types of respectful forms (敬語 keigo). The first form gives the most respect to the subject of the sentence; this is known as respect language (尊敬語 sonkeigo). The second form gives respect to the (direct or indirect) object by a variety of means, the most common being to humble the speaker; this is known as humble language (謙譲語 kenjougo). These respectful forms are represented by different forms of the noun, verb, adjective, etc.
| Plain form
| ジョンが佐藤を待つ。
jon ga satou wo matsu.
John waits for Sato
|
| Respect for subject
| 先生が佐藤を待たれる。
sensei ga satou wo matareru.
(The) teacher waits for Sato
|
| Respect for object
| ジョンが先生をお待ちする。
jon ga sensei wo omachi-suru.
John waits for (the) teacher.
|
Since respect is on a different axis as politeness, one obtains a style matrix. Consider the verb to wait (待つ matsu)
| | plain | respect for subject | respect for object
|
| informal
| 待つ
matsu
| お待ちだ
omachi da
お待ちになる
omachi ni naru
またれる
matareru1
| お待ちもうしあげる
omachi moushi ageru
お待ちする
omachi suru
|
| distal
| 待ちます
machimasu
| お待ちです
omachi desu
お待ちになります
omachi ni narimasu
| お待ちもうしあげます
omachi moushi agemasu
お待ちします
omachi shimasu
|
| polite
| same as distal
| お待ちでございます
omachi de gozaimasu
| missing
|
| formal
| same as informal
| お待ちである
omachi de aru
| same as informal
|
- 1 The passive form of the verb often plays this role.
Differences in politeness and respect is sometimes indicated by selecting different words, though the pattern is irregular. The following are a few examples:
some irregular polite forms
| | yes | I (male) | be (inanimate) | do
|
| informal
| うん un
| 俺 ore, 僕 boku
| ある aru
| する suru
|
| distal
| ええ ee
| 僕 boku, 私 watashi1
| あります arimasu
| します shimasu
|
| polite
| はい hai
| 私 watakushi1
| ございます gozaimasu
| いたします itashimasu
|
| formal
| しかり shikari
| 私 watakushi1
| ある aru
| する suru
|
- 1 私 (wata(ku)shi), being the general first-person pronoun, is also used by females.
some irregular respectful forms
| meaning | plain | respect for subject | respect for object
|
| see
| 見る miru | 御覧になる goran ni naru | お目にかかる o-me ni kakaru
|
| be/come/go1
| いる iru (be)
来る kuru (come)
行く iku (go)
| いらっしゃる irassharu
おいでになる oide ni naru
| 居る oru (be)
|
| know
| 知る shiru | ご存知である go-zonji de aru | 存じて居る zonjite oru
|
| eat
| 食べる taberu | 召しあがる meshi-agaru | いただく itadaku2
|
| do
| する suru | なさる nasaru | いたす itasu
|
| say
| 言う iu | おっしゃる ossharu | 申す mōsu
|
- 1 The distinction between these three verbs is lost in some respectful forms.
- 2 いただく itadaku is actually the humble form of receive (貰う morau); it can also be related verbs like drink (飲む nomu).
Social elements
In using polite or respectful forms, it is important to keep in mind that the point of view of the speaker is shared by the speaker's in-group (内 uchi), so it is impossible for in-group referrents to take honorifics. To illustrate, members of one's own company are refferred to with humble forms when speaking with an external person; similarly, family members of the speaker are referred to humbly when speaking to guests. Dually, the out-group (外 soto) addressee or referrent is always mentioned in the polite style (though not necessarily with honorifics).
Needless to say, mastery of politeness and honorifics is critical for functioning in Japanese society. Not speaking politely enough can be insulting, and speaking too politely can be distancing (and therefore also insulting). 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 it is generally recommended for adult Japanese learners to master the distal style before attempting the others.
See also
|
