Quote:
Originally Posted by Gobenkyoukun
Hello, I want to translate this text into Japanese. Could someone help me?
The text is below and is about Keigo. Thank you very much in advance!
Keigo
One thing that fascinates me about Japanese language is the use of formal and informal language. Another thing that also fascinates me, is that this is quite complicated compared to other languages.
When you start learning Japanese, you learn simple differences between the polite style and the plain/casual style. These are known as futsuutai and keitai, or Desu-masu-kei and futsuu-kei. For instance:
Doitsugo ga hanasemasen.
Doitsu go ga hanasenai.
Ashita eiga o mimasu.
Ashita eiga o miru.
Kinou eiga o mimashita.
Kinou eiga o mita.
Asagohan o tabemasen deshita.
Asagohan o tabenakatta.
However – Keigo is more than this. Keigo also reflects distinctions in social position or roles by changes in language, especially verbs.
Keigo is usually divided into three subcategories, sonkeigo, kenjougo and teineigo. I will try to explain each of them giving examples.
Let’s start by looking on the respectful form, sonkeigo, and the humble form, kenjougo. Sonkeigo is used when speaking to or about a person to whom you want to show respect. It is not used to talk about oneself. It is used for instance when talking to your supervisor, teacher or customer. Let's look at some actual examples. The first examples are in plain/casual Japanese, and the second ones in sonkeigo.
Kare o shiru?->shitte iru
Haruda sama no koto o go-zonji desu ka.
Kare wa yoku Tokyo ni iku?
Tanaka-Sensei wa yoku Tokyo e irasshaimasu ka?
Boku wa mou tabeta.
Sensei wa mou meshiagarimashita..
Ano hito wa dare da?
Ano kata wa dochira-sama desu ka?
Takeshi-kun, koko ni koi!
Koike Masao sama, koko ni o-koshi natte kudasai.
Doke de benkyou shita?
Sensei wa dochira de o-benkyou nasaimashitaka
Shiru changes to go-zonji. Iku changes to irashharu. Taberu changes to meghiagaru. Kuru changes to o-koshi ni naru, and suru changes to nasaru.
Kenjougo is used when referring to yourself or to one in your own group. Here also, the verbs change their forms. The following examples are all actions done by the speaker so they all use the humble form.
Sensei, o-kiki shitai koto ga arimasu ga.
Sumimasen, o-matase shimashita.
Nochi hodo o-denwa itashimasu.
O-nimotsu o o-mochi shimasu.
Tanaka san wa zonjite orimasu ga, Yamada san wa o-me ni kakatte orimasen.
Watashi wa sensei ni purezento o sashiagemasu.
Sensei ni kanji o oshiete itadakimashita.
Au becomes o-me ni kakaru. Iru becomes oru. Suru becomes itsasu. Morau becomes itadaku and ageru becomes sashiageru.
I’m sorry to bother you with all this verb changes and grammar, but it really shows what happens. So, to sum up, the first thing to remember is that the speaker always considers himself/herself to be at the lowest level. So any actions performed by oneself are in humble form while actions performed by anyone else uses the honorific form.
To illustrate the extreme point of difference, this could be shown with two conversations. Two professors speak to each other:
Tanaka sensei: O-hisashiburi desu, Jigoro-sensei. Gui wa ikaga desu ka?
Jigoro sensei: Konnichiwa Takasan, watashi wa genki desu. Go-kazokua wa dou desu ka?
Tanaka sensei: Hai, genki desu. Tanaka-sensei ima made, go-hon o o-yomi ni narimasu ka?
Jigoro sensei: Hai, itsudemo o-yomi-shimasu.
Tanaka-sensei: Ii desu yo. Jigoro san o-uchi ni wa go-hon ga takusan gozaimasu.
Jigoro sensei: Tokorode, tanjoubi ni O-taku-sama kara itadaita okashi wa taihen oishuugozaimashita
Tanaka-sensei: Mondai dewa arimasen.
And the second conversation, two friends at the same age and level speaks to each other:
Shinobi-kun: Genki?
Takeshi-kun: Genki.
Shinobi-kun: Genki?
Takeshi-kun: Genki.
Interesting? I could talk for a long time about this subject, however unfortunately I don’t have the time to cover the full aspect of Keigo. I will close by saying that Keigo is something special about the Japanese language and perhaps makes it somewhat different compared to other languages – but it also makes it a very interesting language to learn. So I think I’ll stop here.
Thank you for your attention!
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Translate it yourself first. Especially since it's clear you fancy yourself someone who can speak at length on keigo!