Honorific speech in Japanese.
14
votes
1answer
682 views
～うございます - keigo い-adjectives
I'm not sure if this is actual keigo, or just a polite form of adjectives. Anyway, there are several that we're all familiar with that are still used today.
はやい → おはようございます
ありがたい → ...
15
votes
3answers
650 views
Does “敬語” (keigo) just mean “politeness” or is it a technical term specifically relating to Japanese grammar?
What is the difference between the Japanese term "敬語" (keigo) and the English term "politeness" (Specifically regarding language)?
I assumed politeness is more general covering things like "please" ...
4
votes
2answers
252 views
In customer settings, is it ok to ask for keigo to be repeated in more “normal” Japanese?
In the context of restaurants, convenience stores and similar situations, is it ok for a customer to ask for something that was said in keigo (or in manual keigo) to be repeated in more "normal" ...
11
votes
1answer
284 views
When can I exchange くださる for いただく in expressions of gratitude?
Way back when, I remember being taught that when you want to say a really polite "thank you", sentences such as these are basically the same:
文章を訂正していただきましてありがとうございます。
...
7
votes
3answers
571 views
What are common mistakes made by Japanese kombini employees speaking “manual keigo” (バイト敬語)
I hope this question is not too open-ended, but please don't hesitate to suggest edits if it is...
Mainly inspired by this question on what seems to be the misuse of a standard idiom by a Japanese ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
What's the difference between ようこそ and いらしゃいませ?
Both "ようこそ" (yokoso) and "いらしゃいませ" (irashaimase) seem to mean "welcome" but what are the precise circumstances under which each should be used?
"いらしゃいませ" (irashaimase) is uttered in unison by all ...
9
votes
1answer
420 views
Does タメ語{ご} mean “casual speech”?
A debate came up on the use of タメ語{ご} in this question, and I thought it was worth its own analysis.
The question is, does タメ語{ご} simply mean "casual speech", or does it mean "speech between equals". ...
6
votes
1answer
166 views
What makes using ある for people okay in this context?
Yep, I'm reading a lot of Tintin in Japanese recently, and he keeps throwing me curve balls with the language. Here's another one.
The situation is that the car he was in has been run off the road ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
What distinguishes 丁重語 from other honourific forms?
On my bookshelf I have a book on formal speech, 敬語{けいご}, and it delineates respectful speech, 尊敬語{そんけいご}, from humble speech, 標準語{ひょうじゅんご}. And it combines both of these with polite speech, 丁寧語{てねいご}, ...
