Page 250 - Easy Japanese - Learn to Speak Japanese Quickly! (TUTTLE)

teinei-go 丁寧語 polite language
kenjō-go 謙譲語 humble language
tame-go ため語 casual language (between

equals)
me-shita 目下 subordinate; junior

ageru 上げる give

GRAMMAR NOTE The Politeness System of Japanese

When you look at the system of polite language (keigo 敬語) in Japanese, it’s
important to recognize two axes, one horizontal and the other vertical, that are
intertwined. The horizontal one shows the distance between the speaker and the
addressee, which typically results in the choice between the Formal forms
(teinei-go 丁寧語) and the Informal forms (tame-go タメ語) (e.g., shimasu vs.
suru), and between the plain and polite versions of some words (teinei-go 丁寧

語) (e.g., dare vs. donata, genki vs. ogenki, arimasu vs. gozaimasu).
The vertical axis shows the relative hierarchy between the speaker and the
subject of the sentence, which results in choosing between the plain, Honorific,
and Humble forms of the predicates (e.g., i’imasu, osshaimasu, and
mōshimasu).

Honorifics (sonkei-go 尊敬語) raise the subject person(s), typically someone
in the speaker’s out-group or above the speaker (me-ue 目上) such as bosses,
customers, strangers, seniors, etc. You NEVER raise yourself. The humble form
(kenjō-go 謙譲語) lower the subject person(s), typically the speaker him/herself
or someone considered as the speaker’s in-group member such as family, friends,

co-workers, etc.
Humble speech is not used to downgrade subordinates (me-shita 目下) in a
discriminatory way. Remember it is still part of the politeness system. Both
Honorifics and Humble speech are used to linguistically indicate the relative
hierarchy between the speaker and the other party. Whether you raise the other

party or lower yourself, the result is the same, a vertical gap.
The In-group/Out-group distinction is not absolute. The same person can be
in your Out-group or In-group depending on the situation. For example, when
you ask your boss what she said, you use the Honorific form—Nan to
osshaimashita ka. But if you ask a business associate from another company
(Out-group) what your boss (In-group) said, you use the humble form—Nan to