Go ! Today, we are finally going to tackle the polite prefix お I talked to you so many times. The polite prefix お is the element that we are going to place in front of a word to mark politeness, to be more polite with the person you’re speaking to, it serves to embellish the word. This prefix is written with the kanji 御, its purely Japanese reading is お, its Sino-Japanese reading is ゴ. We will generally use its purely Japanese reading, that’s why it is most often pronounced お. Also be aware that we usually write it in hiragana rather than in kanji these days.
In previous lessons since season one, we have seen several vocabulary words that I gave you to learn with the suffix お. For example, お金 . おかね which means « the money ». It is a purely Japanese word so in front of it I will put the purely Japanese version of the polite prefix お. As said in the introduction, we write the prefix only in kana. There is very little chance that you will stumble upon the kanji version which I believe is hardly used these days. In any case, from my personal experience, it seems to me that I have never seen it in a manga or a light novel. So, be careful because, in the middle of a sentence, you will have little お in kana which are placed between many words. It’s a bit unsettling at first but don’t confuse them with particles, it’s the prefix of politeness.
A second example, お酒 . おさけ which means « the alcohol ». It is a purely Japanese word so in front of it I put the prefix of politeness in its purely Japanese version : お酒 . おさけ, « the alcool », the word is embellished. This polite prefix is not required, I can just say 金 . かね or 酒 . さけ but depending on the context of the sentence, it may be preferable to embellish these words to be polite to the other person.
I now give you another example in Sino-Japanese this time :
御飯 . ごハン. Cooked rice (more commonly written ご飯)
飯 . ハン, it’s a Sino-Japanese reading so before the word I put 御 . ご. This prefix, I write it in hiragana because that’s how it is usually written although, in vocabulary lessons, if the word has a Sino-Japanese pronunciation, in principle I write it in katakana.
Here in the sentences, we will still write that in hiragana. 御飯 . ごハン. The 飯 . ハン never exists alone without the 御 . ご, the reading only of the purely Japanese word is めし. It’s a little more familiar term but in general we say 御飯 . ごハン to remain polite. You will find the kanji 飯 . ハン with its purely Japanese pronunciation めし in some names of Japanese dishes for example.
I now give you a third example :
御花見 .
おはなみ . The Hanami
The Hanami is the festival that takes place in spring in Japan. We have two kanji but they are purely Japanese readings so we put before the お of politeness.
Know already that it is not possible to put an honorary prefix for everything and anything. Most often words that are part of Japanese culture will be valued by these prefixes, so Japanese speak in a refined way. This corresponds to a certain level of language which is often used by women, they like to use prefixes お to appear more distinguished. This お does not translate into English, so when you come across お金 . おかね or お酒 . おさけ, we will not say « the beautiful money », this way of speaking does not exist in English, we will simply say « the money ». The prefix お is ignored during translation. Ditto for the word 御飯 . ごハン, we will simply say « the cooked rice ».
For the anecdote, many years ago in Western comics, especially Franco-Belgian, films and series, the authors and directors tried to transcribe all this typically Asian politeness with words like « honorable », « venerable », etc. It gave phrases that sounded a bit odd in English like « I drank the honorable tea with honorable cookies » or « I will meet the honorable mother ». It added a certain heaviness and anyway, in English, no English speaker (at least I suppose so) speaks like that. In any case, this polite prefix is translated in a more natural way nowadays.
I will now give you two other specific examples. Take a look below :
お茶 .
おチャ . The tea
お菓子.
おカシ . The confectionery / The candy (speaking of the typical Japanese cupcake)
We have above two words with a Sino-Japanese reading before which we will put お and not ゴ. How is this explained ? In fact, there is no real explanation for this, there is no rule saying that the honorary prefix must necessarily be in its Sino-Japanese reading if the word itself is Sino-Japanese.
Until then, there may be, I mean maybe, a few example words that you don’t know, but that’s okay. Learn them by heart.
Before continuing any further, I would like you to understand one thing. Most Japanese don’t care what pure and Sino-Japanese readings are. Often, they do not know what these terms are, they have never learned the difference between the two directly. They do not also need to have an etymological perspective on their own language to know how words are formed. And it is equally valid for English. In English, it’s the same, we don’t necessarily need to know that such a word is of Latin origin or if such words are of Greek or sometimes even Arabic origin in order to use them on a daily basis. We simply know how to use them perfectly. Japanese people are not experts in their own language either. Once you have mastered your native language, you can speak it daily. Words, sentences, made-up expressions... just come instinctively without you having to think about it. Because your native language is the first language you learned in your life and you have bathed in it every day until now. A Japanese child learns the Japanese language by practicing it every day, whether at school, with his / her family... so speaking Japanese become instinctive over time for you who are learning the Japanese language, up to now and in the future, I have tried and always will try to write in hiragana the purely Japanese pronunciations and in katakana the Sino-Japanese pronunciations. But for you to be able to speak Japanese perfectly, it also has to become instinctive and this can only be done with practice.
So, if you come across a few small exceptions to this rule, just learn them by heart. There aren’t many of them anyway.
We thus put the polite prefix お on words that already exist in the Japanese language as is. We have a number of words, then, like I said, part of Japanese culture and on which we can put a お. It is therefore not possible to put a prefix お on any word, it does not work quite like that. In general, the polite prefix お is not put before words in katakana. Words borrowed from foreign languages, mainly English, are not affected by this rule except possibly a few which, once again, are well integrated, for example ビール which means « beer ». You put the polite prefix お before the word ビール and so we have おビール. It’s very common in Japan to say おビール, Japanese people really like beer and still drink a lot of it. In general, any occasion to party is a good occasion to drink beer. However, this trend tends to be reversed in the younger generation.
And then sometimes this polite prefix お results in the creation of new words. If we take for example this word :
中 .
なか. The interior
If I put a polite prefix, it gives me :
お中 .
おなか → « The interior embellished ».
I’m talking about the interior, but an interior that is enhanced, and therefore a belly. Finally, the belly is obviously a beautiful interior. So, to say « the belly », we’ll write it like this :
お腹 .
おなか → « The interior embellished » → « the belly ».
If you remember your vocabulary course on « the human body », you know that this kanji reads 腹 . なか. But here we are talking about なか, « the inside » which we will translate as « the belly », so we will add the reading on this kanji. To learn as such. It is a term which was created by the addition of the prefix of politeness お on なか.
This polite prefix お, it has a purely Japanese third reading which is 御 . み, which is no longer used today and which we will find only in the ancient Japanese language, in literature. For example, with words like 御空 . みそら, 御雪 . みゆき to talk about the sky or the snow. This 御 . み also gave birth to new words. For example, from the word 籤 . くじ, which means « the lottery, to draw lots », was created 御籤 . みくじ thus putting the prefix of politeness 御 . み. The word 御籤 . みくじ, here does not mean « the lottery » but then what will it be ? An important lottery, a beautiful lottery, in fact it’s literally « the written oracle », this paper that is drawn by lot in the temples and shrines on which a divination is written. Finally, knowing that 御籤 . みくじ is an old and frozen word, it is possible to put a polite prefix お on it. And so, we have now the word :
御御籤 .
おみくじ
We then end up with a word that contains two honorary prefixes, it may sound weird but it can happen. We have two polite prefixes which follow each other directly. And the word as you will sometimes come across it in temples in Japan is :
御神籤 .
おみくじ
In general, we’ll write the polite prefix 御 . み in hiragana but it is also possible to write it with the kanji of « god, divinity ». If you have fun writing the two honorary prefixes in kanji, it makes for a very stylish writing. This is not the most popular way to write 御神籤 . おみくじ but know in any case that it is possible.
The polite prefix 御 . み has other readings that we are not going to talk about today (otherwise the course would be endless) but if you ever come across any, know that they exist. So, don’t be surprised.
And then this polite prefix お / ゴ, we can also use it to express our respect towards the interlocutor, by enhancing the interlocutors, by embellishing with お the words which correspond to an interlocutor. We then speak of an honorary prefix お You just have to put the お before a word related to the interlocutor,お / ゴ depending on whether it is a purely Japanese or Sino-Japanese word. For example, if I am talking about the garden of my interlocutor 庭 . にわ, I’ll say :
お庭 .
おにわ . « The garden » is highlighted.
If I speak the name of my interlocutor 名前 . なまえ, I’ll say :
御名前 .
おなまえ . « The name » is highlighted.
If I talk about his book :
御本 .
ゴホン . « The book » is highlighted.
If I speak of his / her hobby :
御趣味 .
ゴシュミ . « The hobby » is highlighted.
This is a use that is different from the prefix お of politeness we had before and which was used to embellish a word. Here on these basic words, we cannot put a お but we will use it to express his respect towards his interlocutor. We are not going to put this honorary prefix お on words in katakana but hey, today there are people who do it and so the evolution of the language means that it is more and more tolerated.
This honorary prefix お will be an alternative to 貴方の . あなたの since, you understood it, we will never use it on ourselves. It would be very incorrect. In Japanese modesty, we’ll never highlight objects that belong to us. So, if I say for example お庭 . おにわ to talk about the garden, I am necessarily talking about the garden of my interlocutor, which we will translate by « your garden » and thus, we have a real alternative which avoids us saying 貴方の庭 . あなたのにわ.
お名前 .
おなまえ . your name
ゴ本 .
ゴホン . your book
ゴ趣味 .
ゴシュミ . your hobby
We can also put an honorary お like that on things that do not belong to an interlocutor but of which he is the recipient. For example, お礼 . おレイ, it is « gratitude » and so here it is gratitude that is for you. Here, again, we are on a case of お before a Sino-Japanese word. And we also have another example お返事 . おヘンジ which is the answer so here the answer for you, the answer addressed to you. Again, a Sino-Japanese word. In front of 返事 . ヘンジ, we can put either お or ゴ. Although 返事 . ヘンジ is a Sino-Japanese word, it is possible to choose the prefix お or the prefix ゴ. Both are tolerated. And as I told you, it is better to learn them by heart quite simply.
This honorary prefix お we can use it to express respect towards his interlocutor or towards a third person, a person we are talking about who is not necessarily the person we are talking to, it is also possible. You have understood that the honorary お cannot be used on oneself but, on the other hand, the polite prefix お that we saw earlier at the beginning of the course can be used on oneself. We can use it on objects that belong to us, for example talking about our own money, we will say お金 .おかね. So, understanding the nuance between the two is very important.
Know already that we will find this honorary suffix throughout season three, especially combined with verbs, adjectives and even adverbs to create very polite formulas. Little by little, I will develop this topic with you, but for now, learn everything we have just seen in this course. We’ll also see, still in season three, that there are other polite prefixes very specific to KEIGO, the very polite Japanese language. I’m writing it to you like this in Roman letters for now, we’ll have time to study this in more detail another time. And then you remember the honorary prefixes お that we find in some personal pronouns :
お前 .
おまえ → very informal → superiority, very relaxed tone
お宅 .
おタク → formal → lit. « your home », put some distance
お主 .
おぬし → archaic → used by elders towards their inferiors or equals
I hope you now understand much better all the お that you have come across during the program from the very start of season one until now, that you understand better how those words were formed.
Finally, one last thing. We can combine this honorary prefix with an honorary suffix to create a super honorary word. I show you how it works. For example :
御客様 .
おキャクさま
You recognize the word we talked about in the Japanese plural lesson, 客 . キャク is the customer, お is the honorary prefix, 様 . さま is the honorary suffix. And this way I create a super honorary word : « Mr. client », « dear customer »… You can translate it in various ways. The customer is so important in Japanese that the term has been framed with a prefix and an honorary suffix to show how much we respect the customer.
Super honorary words, there are others that we will see later, especially in the next vocabulary course on the family of others. By the way, do you remember the expression 御疲れ様 . おつかれさま that we saw a long time ago in the first polite vocabulary course ? It comes from お, 疲れ . つかれ and 様 . さま. It is also a super honorary word.
This course is now over, all I have to do is give you your exercises. In the first, you will have to translate sentences into Japanese, making the difference between the prefix お of politeness put on a word and the honorary お used to speak about something related to the interlocutor. Remember that the honorary お serves as an alternative to 貴方の . あなたの. In the second exercise, you will have Japanese sentences to translate into English. These sentences include prefixes お used, either politeness or honorary. You will have to recognize which one it is to be able to correctly translate the sentence in English.
Of course, using the honorary means verbs must be conjugated to the polite form, so like in the exercise in the previous lesson, I’m giving you the polite form of the verbs.
Okay, now the redundant little phrase, but that’s how things work. Feel free to read it over several times to digest what we have just seen, practice again and again to write your hiragana, your katakana and your kanji. Review the vocabulary even in previous courses.
And above all, keep up the good work, the end of season two is near !
Note : if you have done all your exercises well so far, you should remember this little word that I show you below :
御守 .
おまもり . The amulet, the lucky charm (more commonly written お守)
空 .
そら . the sky
雪 .
ゆき . the snow
Introduction