Page 456 - Basic Japanese

9.4. Honorific prefixes

There are two common honorific prefixes, o- and go-. Words

containing an honorific prefix may indicate an exaltation of

the word itself, on its own merits, as in watashi no o-tomodachi
‘my friend’ and anata no o-tomodachi ‘your friend,’ or it may

indicate the relationship between the word and an exalted
person, as in o-niwa ‘your garden.’ Again, with nouns and

verb forms, it may be just generally honorific, used for both
humble and exalted situations. With adjective forms, the use

of the honorific prefix seems always to indicate an exalted
relationship: o-isogashii toki ‘at a time when YOU are very

busy.’
The prefix go- is attached to a number of nouns (often,

but not always, of Chinese origin) and to a few verb

infinitives: go-shujin ‘your husband,’ go-yukkuri ‘slowly,’ go-zonji
‘knowing.’ The prefix o- is more widely used and is attached

readily to nouns (including many of Chinese origin: o-shōyu

‘the soy sauce,’ o-denwa ‘the telephone’), verb infinitives (o-
yasumi), and many adjectives (o-isogashii ‘busy’).

Some words by convention have the prefixes o- and go-,
particularly in the speech of women and children, regardless

of whether the situation calls for an honorific (humble or
exalted) form or not. This is an extension of the usage

exalting the word itself, on its own merits. Here is a list of
some of these words with a conventional honorific prefix:

go-han cooked rice, meal, food

o-kome rice (uncooked, but
harvested)

o-sake rice wine