謙譲語{けんじょうご} nouns such as 弊社{へいしゃ}, etc

Question

As explained in the thread titled "Can 美化語{びかご} create implied subjects?", in a very, very limited number of circumstances a noun could be upgraded to pseudo-尊敬語 by using 美化語 (such as ご気分{きぶん}, etc). However, at least one noun, 会社{かいしゃ}, seems to have a clear 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 form:

• 御社{おんしゃ} = "company (implied your company)"

• 弊社 = "company (implied my company)"

I am thinking that "御社、会社、弊社" might be similar to these verbs with regard to turning them into 敬語:

• 御覧になる、見る、拝見する
• 召し上がる、食べる、いただく
• ご存知、知る、存じる

etc.

Just like there are "irregular" verbs in Japanese, there are "irregular" ways to turn a verb into 敬語。So, I'm thinking that:

御社、会社、弊社

is an "irregular" way of making 敬語 nouns. After all, if there is no irregular 謙譲語 word for the noun, I don't think that you can transform a noun into 謙譲語。

So that I can google better and talk with native speakers about this better:

• What are a few nouns that have a distinct 尊敬語 (no connection with 美化語)?
• What are a few nouns that have any 謙譲語 form?

And, is anything that I said in this thread wrong?

btw: I am only interested in 敬語 nouns. In this thread, I don't care about 敬語 verbs.

Answer 1

There are simply too many to mention.

Here are some of the more common trios of words presented in the order of [尊敬語]{そんけいご}--[普通語]{ふつうご}--[謙譲語]{けんじょうご}.

English: Respectful (your ~~) -- General (a/an ~~) -- Humble (my/our ~~)

Shop: [貴店]{きてん}--[店]{みせ}--[当店]{とうてん}

School: [貴校]{きこう}--[学校]{がっこう}--[当校]{とうこう}

Bank: [貴行]{きこう}--[銀行]{ぎんこう}--[当行]{とうこう}

Offer/Gift: [厚志]{こうし}--[物品]{ぶっぴん}--[寸志]{すんし}

Opinion: [高見]{こうけん}--[意見]{いけん}--[愚見]{ぐけん}

House: [尊宅]{そんたく}--[家]{いえ}--[小宅]{しょうたく}

Manuscript: [玉稿]{ぎょっこう}--[原稿]{げんこう}--[拙稿]{せっこう}

Son: [子息]{しそく}--[息子]{むすこ}--[愚息]{ぐそく}

Group of people: [各位]{かくい}--[集団]{しゅうだん}--[一同]{いちどう}

Letter: [芳書]{ほうしょ}--[手紙]{てがみ}--[寸書]{すんしょ}

Handwriting: [尊筆]{そんぴつ}--[筆跡]{ひっせき}--[拙筆]{せっぴつ}

EDIT: I forgot to say that I do not really understand what you mean by "irregular". In 「御社、会社、弊社」, it uses 御 for "respectful" and 弊 for "humble". Is that not pretty "regular" in that sense?

Answer 2

The nouns of 尊敬語 are どなた(だれ)、[逝去]{せい・きょ}(死亡)、おぐし(髪) and so on. The nouns of 謙譲語 are 祖品(品)、私見(意見)、愚妻(妻) and so on. The words inside (　) are nomal nouns.

I think the nouns of 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 are not many. 美化語 is common words when we use the nouns of 尊敬語.