An Art of Self-Deprecation in Honorific Language

Everything is relative. And that includes the position of your ego (when expressing yourself the first person) in Japanese.
As you know, we Japanese are pretty polite as a people and tend to overuse honorific language in our business writing.
 
So how can you express your respect to your business partners, then?
One way of doing this is to elevate the position of “you” (the second person) by using Sonkeigo, #尊敬語 (honorific forms).
 
But there is another way. You can also lower your position to create such a hierarchical gap. The forms used for this are called Kenjogo, #謙譲語 (humble forms).
 
Have you ever encountered a letter in which Shosei (小生) is used by the author to talk about themselves in the first person? When translated literally, 小生 means “a small creature or student”. Actually, it’s a bit old-fashioned now and its use is reserved for men.
 
The version of this used for public servants, 小職 (meaning “a small officer”) is, however, used more often than you may think, even in the present day. This may be because the world of government authorities is more conservative and thus holds on to old customs.
 
By the same logic, you can lower the position of your belongings by using certain prefixes. In a way, these prefixes serve as the first person possessive (case) in humble forms.
 
Here are some examples:
弊社 (literally = a poor company): our company
粗品 (literally = a coarse thing): my token gift
拙宅 (literally = a poor house) : my humble abode
愚息 (literally = a stupid son) : my humble son
 
But watch out. It’s best to take these humble expressions with a pinch of salt.
If you hear my “stupid son“ (愚息), the chances are that the speaker actually thinks that his or her son is pretty smart.
 
You’re an advanced student of Japanese and none of these are new to you?
Well then, what about this one?
迂生, Usei (literally = a dull creature or student)
 
I came across this word while translating a historic text dating back to the Meiji era (the 1890s). After a bit of searching, I found out that it is also a humble form used in the first person.
We really have a long history of self-deprecation, the origins of which are not at all clear – even to Japanese natives.

#Honorific #japanese #敬語 #TranslationServiceArai